The Paramount Queen of the Ada Traditional Area, Naana Kabukour Dagojo Domaaley, says the relatively little patronage of books authored by Ghanaians is rendering local authors useless and unemployed.
According to her, educational institutions in the country prefer foreign books to those authored by Ghanaians, a situation putting the authors out of business and eventually killing the industry.
Naana Dumaaley made the comments during the launch of a reading competition project dubbed, "Mo Kane Ni" at Kasseh in the Ada East District. The project aims at inculcating reading habit in pupils in the two districts of the Ada Traditional Area.
In an interview with Atinkaonline, Naana Kabukour Dagojo Domaaley said it is unfortunate that many pupils in the area find it difficult to speak and comprehend English and Ghanaian languages, thereby affecting their general academic performance. This prompted her to institute the initiative to imbibe reading habit among the pupils to reverse the unpleasant trend. The Ada Queen mother promised to continue with similar initiative which will be christened, "Mo Ngma Ni" meaning write.
Naana Domaaley stated that 90 percent of books meant for the competition were selected from those written by Ghanian authors. This is a quest to champion the purchase of Ghanaian authored books as a move to boost their sales . "It is pathetic that our pupils only know of the Cinderellas and Snow Whites to the neglect of the Ghanian authored book," she emphasised.
Responding to whether the initiative is only about English, the Ada Queen mother observed that the Dangme language is an integral aspect of the initiative, calling on the GaDangme authors to endeavour to write books in GaDangme for the budding generation to read.
The Deputy Minister of Transport and Member of Parliament for Tema East, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus Glover implored parents and guardians to desist from over burdening their wards with house chores but grant them enough space to learn, particularly reading to broaden their horizon.
Titus Glover who donated unspecified amount of money to support the laudable initiative, charged all GaDangme people to help sustain it. The law maker pledged to mobilise all GaDangme parliamentarians to come to the aid of the excellent step.
Present at the launch were a former Minister of State, Dr. Gheysika Agambila, a retired surgeon and author, Professor Lade Wosornu, religious and traditional leaders, representatives from the the two District Assemblies and Education Directorates.
Pupils are expected to participate in the inter schools, circuit and district reading competition where winners between the two districts will be awarded with encouraging prizes at this year's Asafotufiami festival.
Ghana | atinkaonline.com | Edward Sebbie
