By Benjamin Akoto
Sunyani, May 12, GNA – Ms. Nana Ama Kwakye, Originator of ‘Bonofie’, the organisers of ‘Meko Bono’ festival has appealed to traditional leaders in the Bono region to participate and support the second edition of the festival.
She said ”the youth initiated ’Meko Bono’, but it does not belong to them alone, it belongs to the people of Bono”, saying what they required of the chiefs was to get involved so that together the people of Bono would leverage the festival to accelerate the development of the region.
Ms. Kwakye who made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, added that the sustainability and success of the festival depended on the chiefs who were the main stakeholders and custodians of tradition and culture.
This year’s festival would be held from Friday to Sunday, June 23-25 in Sunyani.
The ‘Bonofie’ is a wholly Ghanaian but international event organisation promoting the socio-cultural and economic development of the Bono and Bono East Regions.
She implored indigenes of Bono, both home and diaspora to come on board, patronise and support the festival, while encouraging the Ghanaians to also participate, though the festival was held in Bono, it belonged to all Ghanaians.
‘Meko Bono’ simply means ”I will go to Bono”, implying an invitation to every Ghanaian and the world at large to visit and explore the area, Ms. Kwakye explained.
She entreated Bono indigenes to value and cherish the festival because it tended to unite the people to achieve a common goal and promote the Bono language, culture, businesses, tourist attractions and everything of Bono to maximize the economic potential of the area.
Ms. Kwakye pleaded with corporate organisations in the Bono and Bono East regions and the country at large to support organizers of the festival to enable them to promote the culture of Bono to the world.
She said ”Bonofie” as part of its innovations had introduced the ”Bonofie community links ”, where on-hand training skills were given to the youth in the communities, saying so far over 1000 young people had been trained in different kinds of skills training, like soap making, snail farming, fishing, weedicide, pesticide and organic fertilizers preparation.
GNA