By: Sam Atatsi
Samuel Atatsi
In the abundance of water, my people are thirsty …….. Afadzato South District is well endowed with best number of tourist attraction sites within the 25 constituencies of the Volta region & at large the entire 275 of the country.
Having it’s name derived from the famous tallest mountain of Ghana, in addition to other three (3) known tourist attraction sites. It can be best [ads1]described that, a normal day for a tourist in Afadzato South District, is as much packed than the delicious pot of soup of ‘Aυatrɔƒenyi’, the animal that led & misled it fellow animals to death before the eyed stone god (Kpeto ŋku) in the animal farm folktale of the 90’s.
Afadzato South District, the host of Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Leklebi Waterfall, Tagbo Waterfall & the famous Afadza Mountain, are the goldmines, I want us to digest our minds on in this write-up.
Other well placed events of the people of Afadzato South District such as traditional festival’s like Lukusi festival, by the people of Ve, Agbonutoa-wo festival, by the people of Leklebi & Agadevi festival by the people of Havè traditional area’s respectively, are all best presentations for augmenting the tourism potential of the area.
Ghana Tourism Authority, the officially mandated entity entrusted with the responsibility to oversee the development of these resources, has over the years loose site on their obligations. They tend to one-sided focused their attention on hoteliers, a place of an assured instant revenue without a clear-cut investment. This has subjected these sites to not realizing their dues.
Being a tour guard for one of this tourist attraction site during the years of 2004 – 2006, under the supervision of Mr. Forster Tawiah Akpene. I witnessed how revenues generated were sent to the then Hohoe South District Assembly, with varied percentages disbursed among all these entities without a meriting work done.
Coming to being of our newly created Afadzato South District, I was full of hope that, a comprehensive roadmap, taking advantage of technological advancement, marketing & branding to tap the dues from these tourist attraction sites will be blueprinted. But my hope years along the line is rather becoming a cast in a sharp mirage.
Most often than usual, I used to ask myself if Afadzato South District Assembly has any plan for turning the fortune’s of the district through the many tourism potentials that abounds?
I used to ask myself if it has occurred to those at the helm of management that, Afadzato can be placed on the maps of the world & generate as enough revenue through tourism if well positioned?
I used to ask myself if the thoughts of building that technological platform in the digital spaces of recent times in….. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM etc, in a comprehensively interactive and a well-coordinated manner with works of industry players, will help widen the revenue nest of the assembly.
All those platforms when strategically displayed at vantage public places of marketing, such as Ports of entries, Hotels, Head of Missions & even the Ghana Tourism Authorities own website, with a marketable caption of branding like “AFADZATO, HOME OF TOURISM” will sell & attract explorers to the district to improve revenue mobilization.
Afadzato South cannot be ranked among least IGF mobilizing districts. This is because, the market for tourism is already as huge, profitable & worth exploiting for better returns if taken by the assembly, having being blessed with as much as four (4) sites as virgin revenue mobilization avenue.
SHORT TERM PROPOSED MEASURES
Very evidently & known to us. The festival of SRC week celebration at the beginning of every semester on the Ghanaian tertiary education calendar is a big event in all our institutions from one hall to another, not forgetting the second cycle schools & the private Montessori’s.
The Assembly, through a collaborative & effective preparation works among all industry players could adopt it as revenue-generating measure, & announce in the media’s or write an all-time invitation letters to at least all College’s & Universities in the southern zone of the country, openly embracing them to explore the tourism potentials of the district, if the whole country will be overly ambitious with a promised rebate fee’s of charge.
About the Church’s of God ….. their youth groupings every now & then organize some kind of outreach programs. It will be more profitable for the assembly to hoodwink them to contributing indirectly to our revenue generation cause, by openly inviting them as well with rebate fee’s of charge to explore the tourism potentials of the district, either than the hardly proposed income tax debate ongoing, which seems not feasible.
Being a Market Research & Branding person, I understand that, it is not for nothing for the whole nation of Rwanda to advertise on the jersey of Arsenals football club, with the inscription “Visit Rwanda”.
It will cause Afadzato South District nothing, using the power of technology, social media & an opened arm invitations in attracting revenues to its coffers. Nothing ventured, nothing shall be gained.
The government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, is on the mantra of widening the tax net in a bid to generate as much revenue internally. As a district, it is not economically healthy on us to continue on the feet slouching agenda on our plights.
The carving of our budgets on the District Assembly Common Fund, which is mostly reluctantly disbursed for practically everything, without generating the little we could from the resources available to better our lots amidst our contemporaries is a gross mismanagement.
The District Assemblies handover approach of the development of this tourist attraction sites into the hands of their host communities to manage, market & maintain is a lazy man’s approach in management.
All these sites mentioned have been deserted over time now. If we are to take trip’s to ascertain their friendliness to visitors, our District Assembly will be exposed on grounds of neglect & lost of focus on the very essentials resources crucial for its growth & sustainability.
Checks available reveals evenly up spring of Guest Houses & Eateries within the district. This means, much of the problems to get this collaborative work of place of abode, art’s, culture and food available for visitors is to a large extent allayed.
Afadzato must be doing something different from the conventional way of doing things by the remaining 274 constituencies
Written by: Sam Atatsi