The Bongo Traditional Council in the Upper East Region has been commended for maintaining and sustaining the peace.

The Upper East Deputy Minister, Mr Daniel Syme, who made the commendation at this year’s annual “Azambene” festival celebrated by the chiefs and people in the area, said the Regional and District Security Committees were highly impressed about the peace in the area.

This development, the Deputy Regional Minister noted, had yielded very positive results leading to a lot of development partners trooping to the area to work.

Whilst urging the Traditional Council to continue to complement the efforts of the Regional and District Security Committees to sustain peace in the District, the Deputy Regional Minister, appealed to other areas in the region particularly areas with pockets of conflicts to take a cue from the Bongo District to ensure rapid development in the entire region.

He lauded the Traditional Council for choosing the appropriate theme, “Re-awakened in Support of Education: The Role of the Youth”, and said it was in line with government policies and programmes of improving upon the quality of educational systems in the country.

Mr Syme mentioned the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme, the Northern Rural Growth Programme, Free school uniforms and exercise books, free laptop computers, Basic computerization projects among Government’s interventions aimed at improving education and livelihoods of the people.

On the Educational Endowment fund set up by the Traditional Council, the Deputy Minister, impressed upon the Council to establish linkages with the District Assembly and the District Directorate of Education for counseling to help improve upon the educational development of the area.

The District Chief Executive for the area, Mr Alexis Ayamdor, expressed concern about the gradual degrading of the culture of the people in the area, and blamed it on the youth for copying foreign cultures that were inimical.

He stressed that culture and education were very pivotal for development and entreated the youth to shun foreign cultures that were inimical to development.

The Paramount Chief of the Bongo Traditional area, Naba Baba Salifu Aleemyarum, urged stakeholders in education, particularly parents, to rank education as their topmost priority, saying, since the establishment of the educational endowment fund, a lot of brilliant but needy students had been supported.

He said there were still many of them who were in dire need of support and appealed to the people of the Upper East Region, including Cooperate bodies, to contribute to the fund.

Naba Aleemyarum admonished the youth to shun negative practices that had the tendency to jeopardise their future and to focus on their education and learn productive trades.

The “Azambene” festival is celebrated annually to offer thanks to the gods for bumper harvest as well as a homecoming for the citizens to contribute their quota towards the growth and development of the area.