Tindonmolgo Adopts Award Scheme For ‘Development Heroes’

The traditional leadership of the Tindonmolgo, a community in Bolgatanga, has announced a move to honour any groups and individuals who contribute to the development of the area. 

Although the nature of the award package is yet to be spelt out to the public, a statement from the leadership has affirmed that will-be recipients will be honoured every year (beginning from 2013) at the community’s festival— Tindaama Daakoya Yagle Kure.

This was announced when the community gathered in celebration of its festival to crown the 2012 harvest in all traditional colours and amid a stunning show of culture. It was themed: “Education, a Tool for Accelerated Development.”

Men and women join the festival dance at Tindonmolgo

For a sparsely developed community like Tindonmolgo, many have hailed the ‘heroes award scheme’ as not only a spark to whip up gusto for a rewarding diligence internally but also a talisman to pull benevolent individuals or groups towards itself from outside for a facelift.   

“We intend to honour those who work tirelessly to develop this community every year in an event like this,” said the highly revered landowner (Tindaana) in a statement read for him by the Assemblyman for Tindonmolgo, Mr. Bawa Rasheed Agana, at the festival. “You do not need to be from this community before your good works can be recognised. We have set up a committee to monitor. You can be a social worker, teacher, health worker or a police officer. Once you have done something that is worth recognising, we would do that irrespective of where you are coming from. Trust me, your good works will surely be recognised.”

The Tindaana used the occasion to appeal to policymakers for the decongestion he said had plagued the few schools in the community by building more classrooms. He also bemoaned what he described as low-level performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), attributing it to “poor supervision, schoolchild- apprenticeship, ineffective teaching and truancy.”

“Poverty is a contributory factor as some children also do not get food to eat not to talk of basic needs like books and uniforms,” he added. 

Another concern expressed by the landowner was the long distance travelled by the community in search of medical services for lack of a healthcare facility it can call its own.  

The event also saw the unveiling of the community’s 5-year development plan, chiming the readiness of its leadership to address its human resource, economic, social, educational and environmental challenges. The development plan has taken off already with the setting up of an educational trust fund “to deal primarily with educational matters concerning children in our community.”

Mrs. Victoria Ananzaya, Community Participation Coordinator representing the Bolgatanga Municipal Education Directorate, charged the community to invest in the education and health of its children. She particularly called on School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) for absolute safety and security of pupils by ensuring the fencing of schools whose compounds had become roads for vehicles and by regular emptying of disposal bins pitched close to the schools.“If the environment is not safe, how can lessons be effective?” she asked. 

Mrs. Ananzaya also advised school authorities to back up the teaching and learning of culture by inviting resource persons from the community to contribute to the subject. And at whatever time the schools decide to tour the surroundings to be well-informed on nature and the culture of the land, the community should welcome them, she added.   

Story by Edward Adeti