Arts &Culture Ghana 06 - 02 - 2001
Zuarangu celebrates N'Daakoya festival
Abrefi Agyeman selected for face of Africa contest
Zuarangu celebrates N'Daakoya festival
Zuarungu (Upper East) 06 February 2001
The chiefs and people of Zuarungu Traditional Area, near Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, on Saturday celebrated their annual N'Daakoya Festival.
N'Daakoya, an ancestral thanksgiving festival to show gratitude for a good harvest and to ask for blessings as well as prosperity for the coming year, should have been celebrated last December but was postponed due to the December 7 general election.
In a welcoming address, the Chief of Zuarungu, Naba Charles Bob Ayamga, said he would solidly rally behind President Agyekum Kufuor's government to build a better nation.
He said this year's festival, celebrated under the theme "peace and co-operation for development", would be used as a platform by his people to forgive others who have committed offences against them.
The occasion would also be used to promote reconciliation aimed at speeding up the area's development.
Naba Ayamga, therefore, advised the youth to bury their differences and forge ahead in unity.
He commended the NDC government for extending electricity to some parts of Zuaru but said that more needed to be done to improve the living standard of the people.
Naba Ayamga commended the District Assembly for providing the area with a library to raise the standard of education.
He said the library lacks some basic books and appealed to individuals and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to support it with books.
The Presiding Member of the Bolgatanga District Assembly, Mr Simon Atebiya, announced that the assembly has awarded the Zuarungu market on contract under the Village Infrastructure Projects (VIP) sponsored by the European Union (EU).
Mr Atebiya said that the NDC government introduced the area council and unit committee concepts as a way of bringing government to the doorsteps of the people.
He therefore urged rural communities to make effective use of these local level decision-making bodies to communicate their needs to the District Assemblies.
Mr Atebiya educated the people on the Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) disease, and cautioned them against overcrowding during the warm season.
He further urged them to go for the CSM vaccine.
GRi…/
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Abrefi Agyeman selected for face of Africa
contest
Accra (Greater Accra) 06 February 2001
A 17-year-old former student of Aburi Girls Secondary School, Miss Ama Abrefi Agyeman, was on Monday selected to represent Ghana on the Face of Africa 2001 competition in South Africa.
Miss Abrefi was selected out of over 30 ladies who pitched for the casting session in Ghana.
Miss Salasi Gbeku, 16, of North Ridge Lyceum, was the first runner-up while Miss Benedict Out, 19, of the Ghana Institute of Journalism was the second runner-up.
The Face of Africa competition is being sponsored by M-Net and AngloGold, the biggest gold producing company in the world.
Mr Jan Malan, M-Net Executive Producer, who introduced Miss Agyeman, said the Face of Africa model competition finals would be staged in South Africa on May 26.
He said it would attract 24 participants drawn from 30 African countries.
Mr Malan explained that the programme has changed from its original regional competition to a country scouting one of continent from which the 24 finalists have been selected.
Mr Herbert Mensah, Country Director of M-Net, said the concept of a face of Africa is to serve as a form of unification for the continent.
GRi…/
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