Is the Nsuta Traditional Council now a ‘lame duck’?
Article by: Kofi Kwateng Amaning Kokuro
“Leadership is cause; everything else is effect” – Prof. Stephen Adei
History has it that Nsuta is among the main Asante Kingdom and have had Chiefs who were that powerful and had the development of their community and people at heart.
They always ensured that the people they are leading count in any decision they take which will improve their well-being.
I grew up to see the later part of the reign of the late Nana Yaw Sekyere II. He was the type of Chief everyone would like to see and listen to at any time. He inspired hope and was loved by many.
It was during his reign as Omanhene that Nsutaman Secondary School was established, a Post Office and a Magistrate Court was also brought to Nsuta.
Since his unfortunate distoolment by some disgruntled and self seeking individuals from the royal family, Nsuta has become a ‘pale shadow’ of itself for over twenty-seven (27) years in terms of leadership that gives hope for the people and in the area of development.
Nsuta became the administrative capital of the Sekyere Central District in 2008, thanks to the Kuffour Administration which calved the District out of Sekyere West District, now Mampong Municipal Assembly, during the reign of Nana Adu Agyei Bonsafo II who succeeded the late Nana Yaw Sekyere II and ruled for over twenty (20) years but with little or nothing in terms of development to show.
As a District Capital for well over thirteen (13) years now, with the exception of some tarred inner town roads it has nothing to boast off, not to talk about it’s rural communities.
Chiefs are not supposed to develop their area and communities with their own resources, yes, but they are to serve as agents of development. A Community Centre which was started during the reign of the late Nana Yaw Sekyere II is yet to see its first floor completed and commissioned.
Recently there has been an advocacy by a group called The Concerned Citizen of Sekyere Central District to have a proposed site for the construction of a District Hospital under the government ‘Agenda 111’ programme change to a suitable site which will bring relief to most people within the District in accessing District Level Healthcare service.
The argument of the group is that, unlike the three (3) major towns in the District, Nsuta, Kwamang and Beposo who usually have to use an average of 10mins travel to access District level healthcare services, most communities have to travel for one (1)hr and in some cases two (2)hrs or even more to access this same level of healthcare service now.
In view of this grave inequalities the group detest the siting of the Hospital between Nsuta and Beposo main road because it does nothing to reduce the inequalities which exist now. We are not concerned about who owns the parcel of land but our concern is all about equity in District Healthcare access.
The group in working to ensure that equity is brought to bear in choosing the appropriate site petitioned the People’s Representative of the Nsuta/Kwamang/Beposo Constituency, Hon. Adelaide Agyeiwaa Ntim (MP) about four (4) months ago but she has since refused to respond to the petition.
The failure for the MP to respond and other important reasons such as the Sustainable Development Goal Three (SDG3) caused the group to then petition the President of the Republic.
The SDG3 put emphasis on reducing inequalities in healthcare access by 2030. Also the President of the Republic happens to be a Co-Chair of this SDG, as such we wanted to draw his attention to the inequalities the current site may bring on the people who are enduring similar thing now. This petition was sent to the President on the 4th of May 2021 and we are yet to hear something from him .
The group’s latest petition was sent to the Acting Paramount Chief of the Nsuta Traditional Council on 28th May 2021. The Traditional Council had a meeting with the group on 17th June, 2021.
After the group had put out their concerns and the reasons why if the site is moved to a new proposed site (3 new proposed sites were mentioned in the petition) the benefit for the majority of the rural communities will be enormous.
In responding to the concerns and the proposals by the group, the Acting Paramount Chief, said, it is true the Traditional Council (Nsuta) has not been informed and consulted by the District Chief Executive (DCE) nor the Assembly about this project and the need to get a suitable site for it, but he has personally been informed and he is in discussions with one Dr. Kwabena Koduah Sarpong, CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC), who comes from Beposo and Mr. Sekyere Abankwa also from Nsuta.
The acting ParamountbChief went further to say that, as far as the land on which the Hospital is going to be built belongs to Nsuta, he does not see anything wrong with it.
He also said that he has been told the hospital is going to be built by GNPC and if they keep raising issues about sitting, they (GNPC) may take the project to another District.
I was taken aback when I was informed that the Acting Paramount Chief gave this as the reason why he thinks it should be at that place.
For Omanhene to buy into this is something which beats my mind, but later on I have come to understand that it is a well rehearsed propaganda just to prevent people from discussing it further because in one of my conversations with the MP she made similar statement.
The reason why we petitioned the Traditional Council were stated in our petition yet the Council failed to respond to them apart from confirming that the DCE had not consulted or informed then Traditional Council aboutvsuch a flagship programme..
Here are some excerpts from the petition to the Acting Paramount Chief of the Nsuta Traditional council:
1. Is the Traditional Council aware that there is a search for about 15-acre land for the purposes of constructing a 100 bed capacity District Hospital with staff accommodation in the District by the government?
2. Has the President’s representative, the District Chief Executive (DCE) come to discuss anything about this Hospital project with the Traditional Council?
3. Is the Traditional council aware that a land was allocated and the site sent to the Presidency and has been rejected?
4. Is the council aware that the DCE unilaterally going around looking for another land after the earlier one was rejected?
5. Is the Traditional Council aware that the President’s representative on his own allocated a new site around the rejected one?
6. Do the Traditional Council know the location of the sites (rejected and the current one)?
7. We have been told by both the DCE and the people’s representative, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nsuta/Kwamang/Beposo constituency that the said land belongs to the Nsuta Traditional Council, if it the case, did the Council give approval for it? The said land is believed to be located between Nsuta and Beposo main road.
8. Is it the case also that the Traditional Council was consulted and it said it does have any land available for such a project? When did this consultation happen?
Nana, in all these we the petitioners have stood against these sites not on any other grounds other than equity in healthcare access to most people in the District and not just for a few who already have that ease of access to similar facilities.
We have not just opposed it by speaking but we have taken the necessary steps to petition the MP on 23rd of March 2021 and she refused to formally respond to it. Because she failed to respond to us, we have further petitioned the President of the Republic of Ghana on the 4th of May 2021.
Nana, we again want to bring the following to your attention, that per the information we have;
1. There was no consultation with all the three (3) paramountcies (Nsuta, Kwamang and Beposo) and other interested and opinion people in the District.
2. There was no consideration to other viable and appropriate sites within the District.
3. The Decision to choose the current site was taken without consideration to ease of access to most people in the District.
4. The proposed site is a disputed area between Beposo and Nsuta paramountcies. In In 1993 there was a clash over that land and four (4) people lost their lives.
5. No reasons have been provided as to why the site was selected.
6. The selection was done by the District Chief Executive (DCE) and some few individuals without the involvement of the Assembly.
The first site which was selected and presented unilaterally by the DCE to the Agenda 111 committee was rejected by the committee because of it’s sloppy nature. The same day the rejection was communicated to the DCE, that same day he selected a new site around the same area. He did this one also ‘Soul motto”‘
The group has issue with how the President’s representative (DCE) has treated the Nsuta Traditional Council, te biggest in terms of population and landbsize, aside the inequalities which has been the import of numerous petitions, we called on the Council to invite him to tell them why he has decided to ignore them in such an important issue for the District that has Nsuta as its capital.
There is also a seeming likelihood of conflict his actions may bring if care is not taken. The first site which was rejected was not signed by anyone from the Nsuta Traditional Council though according to the Acting Paramount Chief of Nsuta that parcel of land belongs to Nsuta. The location name on the documentation covering it was Beposo, so administratively the Hospital is located there.
Is it that we now have a Traditional Council that is incapacitated? A Council which has thrown its hands in the air and telling it’s subjects that there is nothing we can say or do even though we were not consulted on such an important issue. Is it that the whole Council is compromised or some people in the Council?
In all these my humble plea to Nananom is that they should not see our continuous call on ensuring that equity is brought to the fore to the huge number of people in the rural communities not only for those with allegiance to Nsuta, but also Beposo and Kwamang.
- I will plead with the three Paramount Chiefs (Nsuta, Kwamwng and Beposo) to meet and reconsider the choice of site selected solely by the DCE and do something about it.
Nsutaman!
Nanko! Nanako!!
Long live Nsutaman
Long live Ghana!!!
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com
