Gbese Mantse, Nii Okaija III, has urged Gas in the Greater Accra region to use this year’s Homowo festival to unite for peace and accelerated development.

The Ga chief also advised the youth to guard against social vices that derail development.

Instead, he said, the youth must endeavour to practise virtues that would mould their lives and help them grow to become responsible future leaders.

Speaking to the media in Accra, Nii Okaija III appealed to Gas to put the past behind them and develop the Ga State as one united entity.

Nii Okaija III, who is very passionate about peaceful co-existence and unity in the Ga State, urged all Gas to celebrate this year's Homowo in a peaceful manner and cautioned against unlawful acts during the celebration.

He condemned the act(s) of violence that in the past had been visited on persons in the Ga State, admonishing the youth not to allow themselves to be used as agents of destruction.

Nii Okaija III further charged chiefs in Ga State to do more in developing their communities.

He, therefore, called on the feuding factions in the Ga chieftaincy disputes to, as a matter of urgency, ceasefire for the betterment of their people.

“All disputes should come to an end,” Gbese Mantse advised.

He also entreated government officials, particularly indigenes of Ga, to avoid interfering in on-going land and chieftaincy disputes.

“Those officials who, in the past, did not know about the facts, now you know them, and therefore must help build the Ga state,” Nii Okaija III stressed.