Apiate Support Fund: Committee’s membership questioned

Concerns have been raised in some quarters over the membership of the Committee overseeing the Apiate Support Fund.

The Apiate Support Fund was launched by Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor last Tuesday to help solicit funds to rebuild the Apiatse community, which was ravaged by an explosion exactly a week ago. 13 persons lost their lives while scores of people got injured in the deadly disaster.

The committee is chaired by renowned educationist, pastor, and former CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Rev. Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee.

Other members of the committee are Board Chairman of the Forestry Commission, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, who is also the Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area; Managing Director of CalBank, Philip Owiredu, Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, a Senior lecturer at the University of Ghana and research fellow at the Centre for Social Policy Studies and Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemanu Koney.

However, some traditional rulers and opinion leaders of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, which has jurisdiction over Apiate community are not happy with the composition of the committee.

They wonder why no one from the Wassa Fiase area has been included in the committee when the area in question is within their jurisdiction.

The Wassa enclave is made up of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area and Wassa Fiase Traditional area, all in the Western Region.

Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, the Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area is on the Apiatse Support Fund Committee but there is nobody from the Wassa Fiase traditional area, raising eyebrows.

“For the sake of transparency, there must be a representation on the Committee to cater for the interest of the committee. Why do you set up a committee for a community and chose to ignore its representative? This is not fair at all!” a highly respected opinion leader said.