ODOMASE PRAISES KUFUOR, WIFE FOR NEW DISTRICT…sings `Akonta Akye yen Adee`

It was joy written all over the faces of the people of Odomase in the Sunyani
Municipality in the afternoon of Sunday, November 4 this year, when the youth and traditional authorities organized a special funfair to express their appreciation to President John Agyekum Kufuor for carving Sunyani West District out of the Sunyani Municipality.

The people of Odomase were very grateful for what the President and the Government of Ghana had done by naming their town the capital of the newly created Sunyani West District.

They could not hide their joy as they sang praises to their beloved daughter, Mrs. Theresa Kufuor, the First Lady, and their son- in-law, President Kufuor, and said “Akonta akye yen adee,” meaning “our Brother-in-law has given us a gift.”

The people also expressed their gratitude to the Minister of Local Government and rural Development, Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Darko, the Regional Minister, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, Kwame Twumasi-Awuah and the former Senior Minister, Mr. J.H. Mensah for their contribution in the creation of the Sunyani West District to make the decentralization process more effective.

They also acknowledged the support of the Chiefs of Odomase No.1 Traditional Council, Awuah Domase Traditional Council, Nsoatre Traditional Council, Nana Chiraahene and Nana Fiaprehene.

According to the people, Odomase has every reason to be joyful because history has repeated itself; Odomase was the capital of the then Western Ashanti in 1900.

In a statement by the youth and the people during the funfair, they revealed that Odomase had a great history behind it saying that one of their great chiefs, Nana Kwabena Kyere, who was chief designate of Bantama and the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Ashanti Forces fought against the West African Frontier Forces of Britain in 1900.

Again, during the fight for Bono autonomy, one of their illustrious chiefs, Nana Kwasi Apraku I was very instrumental and traditionally, the jurisdiction of Odomase encompassed Fiapre, Dumasua, Atronie, Kwatire and Adantia with a total population of 30,120.

According to the statement, the proximity of Odomase makes it the obvious choice for the capital of the newly created Sunyani West District and one unique thing about the people of Odomase is that, despite having two traditional councils in Odomase, they have co-existed peacefully and with their close neighbours, as well.

They therefore extended a hand of friendship to their neighbours to come together in order to build a very strong and economically viable district with the conviction that when all the neighbouring towns come together, they would be able to work harder to reduce poverty and in fact raise the standards of living of the people.

They expressed the hope that during the inauguration of the district, their brothers and sisters from the various towns and villages making up the new district would join in.

Yaw Dabie, Kwaku Obeng, K. Owusu Acheaw, Ataa Konadu, Ening Boama, C.K. Asante and Millicent Apraku jointly signed the statement.