MINISTER OF TOURISM HONOURED (PAGE 16)

The home of Kente, Agotime-Kpetoe in the Volta Region, went agog last Thursday when the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, was honoured for her appointment as a minister of state.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho-East Constituency, was enstooled an honorary queen under the stool name Mama Beanie II at a colourful durbar that was attended by some colleague MPs, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Tourism, Mrs Bridget Katsriku, and the Executive Director of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Martin Mireku.
Addressing the durbar, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, said the ceremony was unique in view of the high resourcefulness that the MP had demonstrated in Parliament, adding that the honour was a reflection of the wishes of the entire people of the Volta Region.
He said it was also gratifying that the two female MPs from the region had been appointed as ministers of state and that it was in fulfilment of the manifesto of the party to appoint 40 per cent of women to high positions.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, described Mrs Azumah-Mensah as sociable and a team player, and that she was an ambassador of Kente in Parliament and therefore deserved the ministerial appointment as Minister of Tourism.
The minister expressed the optimism that the region would receive the required attention under the present regime because both the MPs and Municipal and District Executives were bedfellows, saying that the only requirement was for the people to identify their priorities and be ready to embrace projects to enable them to achieve their goals.
Mr Amenowode appealed to the people in the region to accept the proposed MCEs/DCEs, as they were the choice of the President in his own wisdom to serve as contact persons in the district and said they should be allowed to serve.
He also said the promise of President Atta Mills to the people would be fulfilled.
A representative of the youth of Agotime, Mr Elvis Ativoe, said by her appointment, more credence had been given to female education and that it would also advance the move to making Agotime the hub of tourism in the country.
He saluted the President for the opportunity offered the MP to serve the country.
For her part, Mrs Azumah-Mensah expressed gratitude to the people for the honour done her and promised to devote more resources to open more avenues for female education in the area.
She urged the people, especially schoolchildren, to undertake domestic tourism in order to be exposed to other parts of the country.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah thanked her parents, the family and the entire community for nurturing her to the present level of development and elevation.
The Konor of Agotime, Nene Nuer Keteku, said the occasion marked a milestone in the history of the traditional area and thanked God for the great things he had done for the area.
He said Agotime was noted as a cradle of tourism in Ghana and promised to assist the minister to open the numerous untapped tourist attractions to create jobs for the youth.
The Paramount Chief of the Ziope Traditional Area, Togbe Binah Lawluvi IV, who chaired the function, pledged his support for the minister.