President John Evans Atta Mills has urged parties in Ga-Dangme chieftaincy disputes to demonstrate a high sense of commitment to have the disputes resolved peacefully. His worry was that the disputes had stalled development in the Ga-Dangme area. The government, he emphasised, neither installed nor destooled chiefs, so the solution to those disputes could only emanate from those concerned who should be ready to let go their personal ambitions and serve the people. President Mills stated in a speech read on his behalf by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Annah Ashietey, at the annual Ngmayem festival of the chiefs and people of the Shai traditional area, at Dodowa on Saturday. The celebration was under the theme: ‘Developing structures to accelerate growth, for poverty reduction in the Shai Traditional area.’ “The government’s ‘Better Ghana’ agenda cannot be achieved, if the escalating intra-tribal violence in the region resulting from chieftaincy disputes continues to threaten the peace and stability in the country,” he cautioned. President Mills stated that, the chieftaincy is an institution which serves as a symbol of unity and identity for rallying our people round. However, others see it as a relic of feudalism which divides the people and ignite conflicts with deleterious consequences. “We cannot continue to use landguards to terrorise our people and cause them to be physically deformed or even lose their lives,” he reiterated, and called on the people to collectively close the dark chapter of hatred and discrimination associated with them. They should learn to accommodate and tolerate each other and resolve to prove that the spirit of unity cannot be broken. The President urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies to register all Fulani herdsmen in their jurisdictions to ensure their activities are monitored. The District Chief Executive, Emmanuel Lartey, appealed to the people to let the era of distorted information which leads to societal tension and family disagreements be a thing of the past. “We need to unite so as to develop Shai, we are not deprived as people think, posterity not forgive us if we fail to put our house in order”, he stressed. He mentioned the Presby School durbar grounds, the Dodowa by-pass electrification project, the tarring of the Shai Rural Bank, Matetse and the Ghanatta - World Vision roads as some of the projects that have been completed. Mr. Lartey hinted that 40 scholarships would be awarded this year to students who gained admission into Senior High Schools while groups of people living along the Volta Lake also benefit from an aqua culture project expected to take off soon. The acting president of the Shai Traditional council, Nene Awate Bana Atrokpa I, stressed the need to support girl child education in the area. He disclosed that the traditional council had set up an education fund to cater for the educational needs of Shai. He commended the district assembly for the scholarship scheme for second cycle students. The deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, Dr. Nii Okley Quaye Kumah, said contract had been signed for the construction of the roads at Kusunya while the Kordiabe to Ayikuma one was also being improved while a steel bridge is still to be constructed over the river Abuvie.