Paramount Chief of Ga State, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, has stressed the urgent need for everyone or parents to concentrate on the moral decadence among the youths and find the solution to reduce this social canker.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II who doubles as the President of the Ga Traditional Council was of the view that moral decadence, as a process, starts within the family and ends, for the worst cases, in the international arena beyond the country.

 He mentioned that there are many causes behind the rise of moral depravity.

These, according to him, includes breaking promises, less practice of values, changes in people’s behaviour and needs, decreased practice of ethical instructions, breaking the kinships, politicisation and changes in political norms, corruption, unemployment, drug addiction and cultural assault and dominance by foreign culture and so on. 

The king stressed that "If we expect to bring back happiness and peace in our society as well as in our country, it is high time we controlled these activities which are causing moral decadence among the youths."

" I want to urge the parents within my paramountcy and beyond to treat the training of their children as their heartbeat, which failure could have dire consequences on the society," the king stressed.

This, according to him, would enable parents attach all the needed urgency and seriousness it must have been denied.

He, therefore, entreated parents to attach seriousness to the subject to benefit the children themselves, the parents as well as the society.

He noted that not everyone who gives birth could be described as a parent but one who after giving birth and guide and train them to have a future of substance.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II made the call when he organised a New Year’s Day party for over one thousand and five hundred children from the Bukom and Ga Manshie areas in Accra.

The children came from the Ga State areas including the General Post Office,  Methodist Church Hansen Road, Akoto Lante, Bukom Square, Ga Mashie, High Street, Usher Fort and Ga Stool House on Tackie Tawiah Road.

The annual children's party with His Royal Majesty started from Bukom as King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II walked the children to the Ga Black Stool House, fetes them and gave them gifts.

Christened "Kinka Blonya", children's party," he occasion was characterised by drumming, dancing and singing of traditional songs as well as the display of rich Ga culture and tradition.

The children at the ceremony were welcomed by King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II with the pouring of libation in line with the Ga customs and traditions.

The New Year’s Day celebrations was an event for the Ga Mantse to extend pleasantries to the people as part of the ‘Blon Bii Nya’ meaning people from the horizon and Kusum Gbo/Blema Kpaa nor atsaa which has been with the Ga state over the years.

The Ga Mantse expressed very serious worry about the low level of standard education among the children, particularly the girl-child in General Post Office, Methodist Church Hansen Road, Akoto Lante, Bukom Square, Ga Mashie, High Street, Usher Fort and Ga Stool House on Tackie Tawiah Road.

He continued that “Our Girl-Child is becoming an endangered specie. And very soon the girl-child livelihood will be extinct. Let us all rise from the ashes to secure their future and make the Ga State great and strong again.”

He stressed the urgent need for corporate Ghana and individual philanthropists to aid and support Ga Mantse Girl Child Project that will be launched before the end of this year.

According to him, education was one of the most critical areas for the empowerment of women as the Cairo and Beijing conferences affirmed.

He stressed that offering girls, basic education, was one sure way of giving them much greater power which enables them to make genuine choices adding that “this is backed by the convention on the right of a child and the convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) against women as a basic human right.”

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He noted that an educated woman always has the skills and confidence to become a better parent, worker and citizen.

“An educated woman is likely to marry at a later age and have fewer children. Cross country studies show that an extra year for schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10 per cent.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II contended that that situation informed his decision to decide to campaign for the girl-child education in the Ga state.

This, according to him, was aimed at empowering them to become great women for their communities and the nation as a whole stating that the girl-child campaign would involve the various communities, opinion leaders, organisations that advocate for child education and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that share in the same vision.

In order to ensure that every Ga child enrols in school, the king pointed out that strategies have been put in place to have statistical data on the Ga school-going children.

He maintained that such data would be categorised so as to make it easier for analytical study.

He added that this would be categorised into ages 3-5, 6-13, and 14-18, stating that the children will be placed on education intervention programmes suitable for their age bracket.

According to him, the youth group from 18 above will be tailored into higher formal education or be made to acquire employable skills for themselves.
He called on the chiefs, elders, religious and traditional office holders and key stakeholders in the educational sector to support him to find lasting solutions to this problem which have become a major threat to the youth upbringing in areas in the Fa State.
  
King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, said the paramount stool has set up three endowment funds for the development of the girl-child and the development of the heritage of the Ga state.

According to him, Ga people all the way from Accra to Tema are one people and emphasized the need for all citizens of Ga state to unite for the development of the Ga State.

He expressed profound appreciation to the chiefs and people of the Ga State for supporting him to ascend the Ga Paramount Stool, which is the stool of his ancestors.

He called for unity amongst the chiefs, elders and youth in Ga State to help propel socio-economic development and growth.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, who is very passionate about the peace and unity in Ga State, stressed that: “Our unity as citizens of Ga is paramount,” urging all citizens to join him and assist in the social and infrastructure development processes going on.

He also thanked chiefs, elders and people of the Ga State for their support and wished them a Happy New Year, assuring them that peace would return to the Ga State this year.

History of new years day celebration by Gas History has it that that BLONYA was coined from the word 'BLON BII NYA'.

According to history, during the arrival of White men on the horizon of Accra, Numo Larkote Aduworshie once met them on a day of their celebrations.

That day was marked as the particular one on which BLON BII (people from the Horizon) NYA (celebrate).

New Year's Day for the Ga People since then has been noted for celebrating this day in a grand style.

In the recent past, it was a day on which the Ga Mantse extends a great measure to Ga children.

Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu From Accra, Greater Accra Correspondent