Home Mamaga Ngoyi Nyonufiaga Akosua I Speeches Speech at SASADU Festival 2006
Speech at SASADU Festival 2006

Honorable Ministers, Togbewo, Mamawo, invited guests, people of Saviefe, Akrofu, Sovie and Alavanyo.

It is a great honour to be here the first time celebrating the SASADU Festival at Saviefe.

I would like to start my speech with one of the most important things of the world, which is called peace. I am very happy and greatful that it is the first time that we are celebrating our festival after making peace between the Nkonya and Alavanyo people.

I will never forget the day when I was told first, that there is war between the two tribes. It has been because the father of a young boy I took to Korle-Bu for a heart-operation, has been shot. Thinking, that I would not come back nobody told me about the war situation in Alavanyo during the first two years after my enstoolment. But I decided to stay. And even when the Nkonya people shot on our durbar ground, two years ago, during SASADU festival, the German ambassador, his excellence Mr. Peter Linder and I decided to stay. I tried my best to involve myself into the peace negotiations on the government level. Unfortunately I was not allowed to go to Nkonya, but I spoke to their paramount chief several times on the phone.

I thank God, that this long period of war is over now and I hope that peace will last. For me as an european, I am saying european only, not german, which means that there are many different countries united into the unit of Europe, it is sometimes difficult to understand that the tribal thinking in our days is still in a position to block the development and the progress within a country which is independent already since nearly 50 years. I don’t really like the way of talking in, I call it “tribal dimensions”. There are so many things I have been told in Kumasi, where I worked first and later on in Voltaregion concerning the different tribes, that I started to focus my work over here on education, nutrition and health care. Because I think that these are the basics of a good and satisfied life and a good education for sure is one of the most important things and very often responsible for the way of thinking. I am by myself as a queenmother a part of the old traditional Ghana. And in my opinion is keeping the roots, the customs and the old traditions as an important part of the culture is very important not to loose the identity. But beeing a prisoner of tribal thinking will close many doors for freedom, independence and peacekeeping processes in the new era of being a Ghanaian.

Thinking, that somebody is coming from somewhere will not get you out of your poorness, not even a certain amount of money. You also have to work on it, not sitting in the villages, drinking palm wine and taking drugs. sometimes watching the TV, which is very often showing things, which are unreal and not desirable for a living in a village.

I like very much to be in Ghana, I really enjoy to be with you. But sometimes I miss, and that is, I swear it, the only thing what I am realling missing here is solidarity, joint action, to help eachother. I am coming from Germany to help sick people, and very often I can see, that their relatives don’t care about them. That is something what is making me very sad. And I hope having a better education, also will bring a little bit of more humaness to the people.

Thank you. Glod bless you, God bless Ghana!

SASA!