Professor Stephen Fawcett, Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre and Director of the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, USA has been enskinned as a development chief at Binduri in the Upper East Region.
Professor Stephen Fawcett has been visiting the University for Development Studies (UDS) at Nyankpala in the Northern region, to finalize arrangements for the signing of a memorandum of understanding leading to collaboration between the University of Kansas and the University for Development Studies.
However he agreed to embark on some development projects at the Binduri district of the Upper East Region, through the efforts of his friends: Dr. Robert Kuganab-Lem, Mustapha Issahaku and Issah Habib who are all natives of Binduri. Dr. Kuganab-Lem is the head of the department of allied sciences at UDS while Mr. Issahaku and Mr. Habib are both lecturers at the same university.
They met Prof. Fawcett in the course of their work and visited him at the University of Kansas, USA on several occasions. In order to cement the good relationship they have built over time, Prof. Fawcett saw the need to help bring development to the rural community of Binduri where his three friends come from.
Seeing the good intentions of the professor, the chiefs and elders of Binduri decided to make him a development chief at a grand durbar. They had to seek first, the consent of the Paramount chief of the Bawku traditional area who is the overlord of the Kusaug kingdom under which Binduri falls. Therefore Prof. Fawcett went for blessings from Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II.
Speaking at the enskinment durbar at Binduri, district chief executive for Binduri, Daniel Adoliba expressed hope that the relationship between the people of Binduri and Prof. Fawcett will yield good results. He said water and sanitation and education were key areas that need attention in the district and appealed to Prof. Fawcett to consider those two areas first when he starts work.
The Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre was subsequently enskinned as a chief and given the title: “Naaba Namalteng” which literally means “Chief of Development”.
Prof. Fawcett after his enskinment, expressed gratitude to the chiefs, elders and people of Binduri and called for their co-operation in order to bring the needed development to the area.
By: Albert Sore | A1radioonline.com | Ghana
