The Queenmother of Agave Tradi­tional Area, Mamaga Anyagadze, has advised Ghanaians not to regard chiefs and queenmothers as evil or idol worshipers.

“They are not evil or idol worship­ers. We should rather take the nec­essary steps to learn more about the custodian role that traditional rulers play in protecting the rich culture and tradition of the people.”

Mamaga Anyagadze gave the advice at the installation and outdooring of Togbe Nornorkuadzi-Tsigbe II and Mama Kumorxe II as chief and queen­mother of the Fievie Clan, a division of the Agave Traditional Area.

The stool has been vacant for the past 100 years.

According to Mamaga Anyagadze, there was nothing evil about chiefs and queenmothers, irrespective of the various traditional practices.

“The Holy Bible identified kings and their roles in the affairs of men, therefore, it is important for Ghana­ians, particularly the youth, to know much about chiefs and the cultural practices of their respective tradition­al areas.”

Mamaga Anyagadze observed that it was unfortunate families and friends related well with people but the mo­ment they became chiefs, they distant themselves from them with the mind that the chiefs and queens indulge in evil.

The queenmother of the Agave Traditional Area explained that the fundamental roles of traditional rul­ers, including leading and providing leadership that would promote peace and unity, were vital to development, and had nothing to do with idol wor­ship and evil spirits.

According to her, the greatest thing citizens could offer traditional rulers was to support them by offering con­structive criticism instead of outright condemnation as evil men and wom­en.

This, she said, was a misconception without any basis at all.

A Senior Divisional Chief of the Adaklu Traditional Area and the Chief of Adaklu-Anfoe, Togbe Agbobada, who was the guest speaker, said due to the vital roles chiefs played, it was mostly difficult to get one, a situation that affected the Fievie Clan of Agave traditional area for over 100 years, stressing the need for the people to safeguard jealously against any act that would distract the new tradition­al rulers.

Togbe Agbobada noted that chiefs were the symbol of hope, peace and unity of every society, and, therefore urged the people of the Fievie Clan to work hard and support the new traditional rulers for the rapid devel­opment of the area.

The newly installed chief, Togbe Nornorkuadzi Tsigbe II, lauded the kingmakers for the confidence reposed in him and the queenmother, Mama Kumorxe, and promised to serve the people to the best of their abilities.

Moreover, Togbe Nornorkuadzi urged the people to uphold the rich cultural practices of Agave, to pave the way for meaningful development, saying without upholding the cultural and traditional values of the area, there could be no meaningful development.

Present at the ceremony were Secretary to the Paramount Chief of Agave Traditional Area, Togbega Xedihor Hlitabo, Mr Charles Amenyo, Deputy Secretary, Mr Holy Kofi Ahia­bu, the Custodian of the Chieftain of the Agave Paramount Chief, Mr Alfred Woyome, the Head of Fievie Clan of Agave, and Togbe Kpegla Aheto.

From Samuel Agbewode, Dabala

• Journalists that participated in the BoG workshop

 It is belief of many that the next of kin of a bank account automatically has access to funds if the account holder dies.

But this is not exactly so, because the next of kin is only a nominee of the ac­count holder who serves as a primary contact in the event where the bank is not able to reach out to the account holder.

This came to light at a training programme organised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for some selected journalists in Kumasi.

Assistant Director, Financial Stability Department of the BoG, Mr Augustine Amoako Donkor, explained that the next of kin concept in the banking sector or operation is to trace the whereabouts of an account holder and not who inherits the account.

“If you are made the next of kin of a bank account by a friend or relative, then know that you do not have automatic access to the funds in the account should the account holder dies.

The next of kin should know a lot about the account hold­er and that is why in practice, many people will use their close relatives,” he said.

He explained that a custom­er of the bank has every right to choose a friend who knows much about him/her to be the next of kin “because the main purpose of choosing a next of kin is to provide information on why the account holder is not reachable.”

Mr Donkor said process­es to retrieve funds in an ac­count of a de­ceased custom­er was a whole different issue when estab­lished that the account holder had died.

The two-day residential pro­gramme took participants through micro­economics stability, monetary policy practice in Ghana, inflation dynamics in Gha­na, development in foreign exchange markets, concept of next of kin, among others.

It sought to deepen the understanding of participants in the operations of BoG and also build their capacity in financial reporting.

But, the journalists were amazed to learn during a presentation on the main traditional sources of foreign exchange supply to Ghana that remittances are the driv­ing force of the economy.

In the presentation, it was observed that in 2023, Ghana received US$5.1 billion from remittances, and as of June 2024, US$3.5 billion had been received.

Although the year 2024 was yet to end, that figure has been projected to increase as relatives and friends send money to family members ahead of the Christmas cele­brations.

 From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi