The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Amansie Central in the Ashanti Region , Mr. Michael Donkor, has warn the youth of Odotobiri who are engaged in drugs and alcohol to put a stop to the act before the law gets hold of them.
Mr. Donkor bemoaned the development, describing it as despicable, adding that if Amansie Central was not careful, the drug menace would get out of hand in Odotobiri.
The target group, according to the worried DCE, was the youth who should be working to help develop Odotobiri, and Ghana as whole, but they are engaged in drinking hard liquor, smoking marijuana, and using Tramadol (extra strong painkiller), which are referred as tramor.
According to him, such vices do not do have a good impact on the human body, rather they inhibits the brain and destroy the body.
He has subsequently warned those involved in the act to stop before the full rigours of the law catches up with them.
“I want to use this medium to caution those who are peddling drugs, and those who are aiding and abetting this vice, to put a stop to it before the law gets hold of them.”
He has, therefore, called on stakeholders to help tackle the menace.
“I would plead with traditional leaders, parents, and guardians to help arrest the situation,” he said, adding, “Nananom, respectfully, let us stem the tide to solve this challenge, and the Assembly will support you.”
The Amansie Central DCE made this plea when he delivered the Keynote Address at the district’s 66th Independence Day Parade, which was held at the Jacobu Methodist School Park, under the theme, “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose.”
The DCE underscored that they were developing Jacobu for the youth, and if this was the kind of attitude some of them were putting up, then where was their future, he asked?
Michael Donkor told the youth that the government had introduced Free Senior High School (Free SHS), an intervention which had largely involved major monetary challenges, which used to impede education at that level, hence, they should strive and take advantage of the policy and learn to become responsible citizens.
In an assertion which could see stakeholders confronting the challenge holistically, DCE Donkor told the audience that plans were far afoot to meet the youth and talk with them to know what they wanted, so that they could be developed.
According to Mr. Donkor, recently he attended a funeral at Jacobu, and upon reaching the funeral grounds, he was marveled at the way and manner the girls and boys behaved at the funeral.
Michael Donkor expressed worry about the decline of respect for the elderly in Odotobri.
“They do not respect that [the] elderly are within their midst, and as such, they ought to behave accordingly. How can the mortal remains of a deceased who was been buried at a cemetery be brought back to where he was laid for filing past? People do not want the clergy to have a burial service.”
He told the gathering: “If these ladies and guys who are on drugs and alcohol marry from your family and have kids in the process, what good attitude will he exhibit for the children to emulate to advance in life?”
On developmental issues in Amansie Central, Donkor disclosed that government was doing so much develop for Otodobiri in the areas of education, health and security among others.
In this regard, he disclosed that 3,483 desks had been distributed to schools to help students study, adding that other infrastructural projects were underway to give education a boost in the district.
Baffour Agyare II, Kontihene of Odotobiri, who chaired the event, asked that the young are cautioned and taught about the antecedents which led to the independence of Ghana. He called for development projects in the area.
On his part, the Member of Parliament for Odotobiri, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, told the people to appreciate where the constituency had got to.
Much as he acknowledged that the constituency was bereft of good roads, Akwasi Gyamfi noted that in the years gone by, Amansie Central had no motorable roads and bridges, but today, the roads were tarred, noting that development was a process.
He also indicated that electricity penetration in the areas was low in 2005 when then President John Agyekum Kufuor carved Otodobiri from Bekwai Constituency, but, today, the electricity index in the constituency had grown exponentially.
