The Paramount Chief of Agortime Traditional Area, Nene Nuer Keteku III, has said that his reign would not allow chieftaincy disputes to mar the beauty of their annual Kente Festival.
The paramount chief noted with regret the recent incidents that led to the cancellation of the grand durbar that climaxes the annual Kente Festival of Agortime.
Nene Nuer Keteku said the entire Paramountcy was taken aback by the resurrection of a chieftaincy dispute which they all thought had been fully resolved and consolidated by a feast held at his palace earlier this year.
He said although the chieftaincy institution is generally revered as custodian of the peoples' culture, the overgrowing interests of certain individuals in the system is crushing its core mandates and derailing efforts that promote relevant elements of culture.
“The festival is for the youth, and if we don't empower the youth to take charge, it won't help us. All festivals that depend on Chiefs are bedeviled with challenges. Other traditional areas praise us for not leaving the organization of our festival in the hands of chiefs because of the recent chieftaincy dispute in the area, people are riding on it to cause troubles in the area which I would not allow” he stated.
The visibly disappointed chief has apologized to patrons of the festival for the inconvenience caused, and pledged to as a matter of urgency resolve the impasse among his sub chiefs.
He therefore warned his subjects not to adulterate the beauty of the Kente festival with needless chieftaincy disputes.
He said his outfit would continue to preserve and protect the festival, and would not allow chieftaincy issues to affect the Kente festival, and would continue to empower the youth to fully take charge of its organization.
“Whether chieftaincy or no chieftaincy, we did not back this festival with chieftaincy matters. At the helm of affairs, the planning of the festival is put in the hands of the youth, and they are doing marvelously well. So long as I live, we would not entertain anyone who brings chieftaincy into the festival. The youth would continue to organize the festival”. he maintained.
He commended the current members of the planning committee led by Mr. Eddie Akotey for bringing innovations into the festival and taking it a notch higher.
“The present committee did marvelously well because we have just been celebrating the festival without any results. But now, the palace is being constructed, the kente market construction is in progress; meaning we are now gaining something from the efforts of the present committee.”
The grand durbar of the annual festival, which sees patrons converge on Kpetoe to celebrate the beautiful Ghanaian cloth and promote the area's culture, was called off at the eleventh hour for reasons organizers gave as the failure of the Paramount Chief, Nene Nuer Keteku, to resolve an outstanding chieftaincy dispute.
The abrupt cancellation the planning committee said, was to safeguard peace and security in the area.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the planning committee, told Citi News they are working closely with the chiefs and elders of the traditional area to bring a lasting solution to the problems to avert future disappointments.
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By: King Nobert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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