Residents told to respect annual festivals

Ave-Havi (V/R), June 13, GNA - Torgbui Agboka Sowu IV, the chief of Ave-Havi in the Akatsi North District, has appealed to citizens living abroad to visit home to take part in annual funeral rites for their dead relatives and other compatriots.

Torgbui Sowu said it was unfair for any citizen of the area to stay abroad while the community met annually during Easter for the final funeral rites of those who lost their lives.

According to him, the occasion was crucial in the sense that it offered the community an opportunity to take stock of their performance in the year, and also creates the conditions for citizens to socialise, have fun and to reunite.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Torgbui Sowu stated that, "I am in talks with my chiefs, opinion leaders and clan heads for us to make this annual event compulsory'.

He added that any family that would hold both the burial and final funeral rites at a go instead of shifting the final funeral rites to Easter would be sanctioned.

"Because of lack of jobs and poverty, a huge number of our citizens have left the area for greener pastures elsewhere. It is the annual funeral rites that bring us together at Easter and create the forum for us to plan for our development. We therefore shall see any family that refuses to go by this order as one that hates unity and development", he said.

"I think everybody is doing well to see this area develop and may the Almighty and the gods of our land help us to help our area."

He used the occasion to wish citizens home and abroad well, as they worked in their various capacities to support themselves and their homeland.

GNA