The Paramount Chief of the Gandawii Traditional Area in the Sissala West District, Kuoru Osman Deiwia Nankpa III has blamed political polarisation and chieftaincy disputes as major causes of disunity among Ghanaians.     

The situation, he said, was retarding the development of the country including the Sissala area and as such, urged the people of that community to settle their differences and forge ahead for development.     

Kuoru Nankpa III made the observation at Tumu at the weekend during the annual Sissala Youth Forum congress, which was anchored on the theme: "Fostering Unity and Bridging the Infrastructural Gap in Sissala Land: The Role of the Youth".     

He indicated that Chieftaincy and political polarisation has derailed the peace and unity of the people to the extent that, Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Unit Committees could no longer function effectively and that teachers could no longer instil discipline in schools.     

“Key community stakeholders can no longer genuinely act to insist on the right things to be done for the cause of educational development without being tagged of either doing the bidding of a particular political party or a chieftaincy faction.

"This negative trajectory must change in order to put our educational development back on track, harness the potential of our very young ones and rescue the future of the Sissala land," the Paramount Chief stated. 

Kuoro Nankpa III, therefore, entreated the youth to play an active role in their respective societies to help achieve the development needs of the traditional area. 

He appealed to the government to work on fixing the deplorable roads in the area, as that negatively affected the economic and agricultural activities of the people.     

“I have joined many of our compatriots on a number of occasions, called on government to work on our roads, including the completion of the Bolga-Tumu-Hain-Wa highway, which has always been on contract since time immemorial but never gets completed, and the Tumu to Gwollu, Gwollu -Jeffisi and Gwollu Zini road,” Kuoro Nankpa III said.     

He advised the youth to hold leaders accountable as that would help solve the current infrastructural challenges in the area.     

Mr. Issifu Napuna, President of the Sissala Youth Forum, commended executives of the forum for working to ensure that the forum chalked remarkable successes amidst the coronavirus pandemic, including supporting the Sissala East Municipal and Sissala West District Health Directorates with Covid-19 essentials to fight the virus.     

Also, the Forum organised a Parliamentary debate for the Sissala East Parliamentary candidates ahead of the just ended 2020 general elections.