By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Aug. 11, GNA – The people and residents of Tema have celebrated this year’s Homowo festival, with a call on all natives to unite to make the harbour-cum-industrial city great.
The celebration, which was heralded with a bonfire and other activities, saw traditional leaders clad in red garments, the official colour for the celebration of Homowo, the festival which hoots at hunger and remembers the ancestral famine and survival.
The traditional leaders, led by Nii Adjetey Agbo II, the Acting President of the Tema Traditional Council and Mankralo of Tema, sprinkled at the clan houses the official festival food, Kpokpoi, a non-fermented corn dough dish consumed with fish palm nut soup.
Nii Agbo, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said peace was very important in developing the community and therefore non-negotiable.
He said: “By God’s grace we have all agreed that there is no disunity or chieftaincy fight, and that’s why all the clan houses fully participated. We have all seen that peace is very important.”
He further noted that past misunderstandings were being tackled, revealing that the Traditional Council recently gave every clan house GHs10,000 cedis to support their activities as part of the process for peace within the town.
He also commended the youth for understanding that the Homowo festival is not a fetish activity but rather the traditions of the people which project the culture of Tema and embody the spirit of the ancestors.
Nii Amarh Somponu II, Tema Shipi and Stool Secretary, said that the council started smoking peace pipes last December with feuding families to discuss the importance of promoting peace in the community.
He added that the council was in the process of getting the right nomination and enstoolment of a Tema Chief after the death of Nii Adjei Kraku II some few years back.
He said they were being cautious and following the right channel to ensure that no litigations arise from it.
Mr. Isaac Ashia Odamtten, the Member of Parliament for Tema East, stressed that festivals are supposed to be engines of bonding the people; therefore, moves to bridge peace gaps in the area by the traditional council were commendable.
“I commend them for spicing the Homowo with fun activities and bringing the people together. I urge the Tema people in and out of Ghana to find Homowo as the occasion to visit home. I invite them to be part of the traditions and customs of the people. Traditions do not die; Homowo is not a festival for Newtown, it’s for the entire Tema traditional area, and all must celebrate with us,” he said.
He added that there was no doubt that the Homowo has brought unity to the town, serving as a reminder to the people that, no matter what issue they might face, they must unite to make Tema great.
As part of the Homowo celebrations, the people would hold a clan-houses durbar and a Homowo lecture on the theme: “Honouring Tradition, Strengthening Togetherness, and Using Both to Foster Growth.”
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah