Simiw Chief Questions Delay in Komenda Sugar Factory Operations Despite KEEA’s High-Profile Personalities in Gov't

The Chief of Simiw who doubles as Adontehene of the Edina Traditional Council in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region, Nana Nguando lV, has expressed frustration over the continued delay in the full operation of the Komenda Sugar Factory, questioning why the facility has struggled to operate despite the Municipality being home to several influential personalities in the ruling government.

Speaking at the grand durbar of the 2026 Simiw Enyankor festival dubbed "Celebrating Our Heritage, Promoting Unity and Accelerating Sustainable Development," the Chief said the prolonged delay in getting the factory fully operational has become a source of concern for residents, particularly farmers and young people who had anticipated employment and economic opportunities from the facility.

He questioned why a project of such economic importance to the area should remain underutilised when KEEA had produced prominent political and public figures, including the Vice President of Ghana, H.E. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Member of Parliament for the Municipality, Hon. Samuel Atta Mills, among many others as indigenes of the area.

According to him, the presence of influential personalities with links to the Municipality should translate into stronger attention to developmental challenges confronting the area, including the revival of industries capable of creating jobs for the local population.

The Chief said the Komenda Sugar Factory has the potential to serve as a major economic driver for the Municipality if properly operationalised.

He therefore called for renewed efforts by the government and relevant stakeholders to address outstanding challenges affecting the factory and ensure that it operates sustainably. Stressing that the people of KEEA needed more than promises and periodic interventions, insisting that development projects must ultimately translate into tangible economic opportunities for residents.

CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mrs. Maame Efua Houadjeto, announced plans for the Authority to conduct research into the historical significance of Simiw in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

According to her, some reports indicate that enslaved Africans made a transit through Simiw before proceeding to Elmina, and the Authority intends to investigate the claim to establish the historical connection of the community to the slave trade.

Mrs. Maame Efua Houadjeto said if the research confirms the historical significance of Simiw, the Ghana Tourism Authority will consider the community in its tourism development projects.

She explained that such interventions could include the development of hotels, restaurants, tourism centres and other facilities that could help promote tourism and stimulate economic development in the area.

The GTA Chief Executive Officer also encouraged young people to become self-reliant by taking advantage of opportunities in the tourism sector, particularly through what she described as tourism enterprise.

She mentioned activities such as bag-making, painting, exhibitions and bead-making as some of the areas where the youth could develop entrepreneurial skills and create employment for themselves and others.

Meanwhile, Mr. Aquinas Hanson Jnr., Executive Secretary to the CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr. Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, who represented his boss at the event, said there are advanced plans to engage unemployed young people in apprenticeship programmes.

He explained that equipping the youth with practical skills through apprenticeship would provide them with sustainable means of livelihood, rather than simply giving them money, which, he noted, may not always be properly accounted for.

Sompaonline.com// Eric Annan