Nkonya, Alavanyo Not Litigating Over Land - Chiefs

Vice President With the Chiefs in a handshake

The leaders of Nkonya and Alavanyo have refuted claims that the two factions were engaged in a land dispute. According to them, the land dispute is between individuals and families from both sides and not the entire traditional areas.

This came to light when leaders of the two factions met Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur on Friday to find a lasting solution to the over 90-year-old conflict.

This will be the third attempt by government to broker peace between the two parties after talks stalled in 2013. In December last year, there were renewed clashes that left one person dead.

The violence in the two communities has persisted for years despite several mediation attempts.

The paramount chief of Alavanyo Traditional Area, Togbe Tsedze Atakora VII stressed, “I also want to put it on record that it might surprise everybody here that Alavanyo and Nkonya have never gone to court over land. If anyone has that record, let him show it.”

He further clarified, “I am saying that some people from Nkonya Tayi and six individuals from Alavanyo went to court over land.”

Nkonya Youth Call For Investigation of REGSEC

Cosmos Sarpong, Spokes Person

Residents of Nkonya led by the youth of the area has carried out their promise to hold a news conference as an alternative move to a demonstration which was stopped a fortnight ago by Police and Military in the area.

The Nkonya people represent a faction in dispute with Alavanyo over a piece of land for the past 90 years. Their press conference which could be likened to mini-demonstration was attended by over 600 residents who converged at Nkonya Nchumuru for the petition to be read.

The residents represented under a group called; Coalition of Orphans, Widows and Victims of Nkonya-Alavanyo Conflict, in their petition appealed to the President to institute an investigation into the activities of the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in relation to protracted communal conflict and the peace process.

Reading the petition, the spokesperson, Cosmos Sarpong claimed that the REGSEC since September 2013 was thwarting efforts by an NGO; Youth for Peace and Security Africa, YPS-AFRICA which started a peace building process among the people of both Nkonya and Alavanyo.

Dzodze Climax 2014 ‘Deza’ Celebrations

Torgbui Dey III and Mama Agbaledzokpui of Dzodze Apetepe

The Chiefs and People of Dzodze Traditional area in the Ketu-North district of the Volta region have climaxed their 13^th annual ‘Deza’ (Oil Palm Festival) over the weekend, with a call on young people in the area to venture into cultivation and production of oil palm instead of engaging in risky unsustainable and illegal economic activities.

The Ketu North district is one of the districts in the Volta region that records worrying levels of fuel smuggling due to their proximity to the to the Republic of Togo.

But according to the Volta Regional Minister Helen Adwoa Ntoso, the potentials in the oil palm industry are enormous and lucrative, which can lead to economic security.

 She said aside the domestic consumption of oil palm, its extensive use as a vital raw material for industrial production of products such as cosmetics, soaps, bio-diesel fuel, among others, makes its cultivation a very lucrative venture, which can turn the fortunes of many young people.

She proposed as a way of motivating the youth, the institution of an award scheme to reward the best oil palm farmer, saying ‘it is when our people are engage in this kind of economic activities, that little by little our economy will grow into a robust one.’

The minister also commended the efforts of all farmers and assured them of government continuous support through various agriculture intervention programmes to make farming worthwhile.