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The Bissa ethnic group from the Upper East Region have been urged to help sustain the country’s democracy by embracing peace and preaching peaceful coexistence where they reside.
“We are peace loving people and Ghana is a peaceful country we can’t afford the peace to slip through our fingers just because of elections,” the National Chairman of the Bissa Development Association (BDA), Alhaji Shaibu Gutare, noted.
He was speaking at the maiden Sukuma festival of the chiefs and people of Bissa, held at Alajo, a suburb of Accra on Saturday, which was attended by the Greater Accra Region Chief of the Bissa Community, Chief Kir Ali Salisu Dabre IV, the council of Bissa Chiefs, the youth group, cultural troupes, and Bissas from across the country.
The Sukuma (which means the gathering of Bissa people) was held on the theme: ‘Preserving our culture and building unity to promote peace towards election 2024- The role of all citizens.’
The event featured traditional music, dance, cuisine and other cultural display that showcased the unique heritage of the Bissa people who were adorned in smocks of all shapes and colours, and decorated themselves with symbols of groundnuts, an agricultural crop they are adept in producing.
Although Bissas originate from Kunlungugu and Pusiga in the Upper East Region, Greater Accra is believed to host Ghana’s largest Bissa diaspora community, pursuing economic activities.
Alhaji Gutare appealed to the youth and people of Bissa to cooperate with state institutions and traditional authorities where they reside to promote peaceful coexistence.
He also urged the people of Bissa across the country not to “abuse the hospitality of their host communities” but to respect them and promote peaceful co-existence.
Alhaji Gutare further indicated that Bissa people were honest and hardworking and had become “preferred candidates for security and watchman work because of their honesty.”
Also present were the chiefs and eldest of Alajo and representatives of political parties who shared solidarity message with them.
The Bissa Youth Association in a speech said the vegetable farming was incomplete without Bissa people, adding that, “We supply the chunk of vegetable in Ghana, especially in December through to April from the Bissa belt.”
He said their area was in dire need of development, saying, “We, therefore, use this opportunity to appeal to the government for the construction of roads and bridges to link Kulungungu to Bador. Another one from Gentiga through Mognore, Tampizuna, Baribari, Garekoka to meet the main road at Zooeliga to improve the transportation of farm produce to market centres.”
