Accra,– The Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) has outlined activities to commemorate this year’s ‘Homowo’ festival in collaboration with the Osu and Adabraka Traditional areas.
The initiative, the first of its kind by the Assembly since its establishment two years ago, seeks to showcase the culture and traditions of the Ga tribe.
Mr Samuel Nii Adjei Tawiah, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Assembly, said the idea was to showcase the culture and traditions of the host communities to the world.
The activities include clean-up exercises, food bazaars, quizzes, and cultural displays to engage the young and old, especially local and foreign tourists.
“We want to showcase Ga culture to the world through these activities. For example, the food bazaar will be showcasing the various foods of the people, whereas the quizzes will showcase Ga language and culture,” he added.
The MCE said they would be partnering with the traditional authorities to train Ga language teachers in the Municipality to meet the shortfall of the teachers.
He said the Assembly would sponsor interested persons in the Municipality who would want to study and teach the Ga language in schools.
Naa Korkor Aadzieoyi I, Queen mother of Adabaraka Traditional Area, commended the Assembly for the initiative.
“We are very happy they want to portray our culture and tradition to the world through the festival,” she added.
The Queen Mother said the traditional authorities were putting measures in place to sustain the Ga culture, especially the Ga language in contemporary times.
Schedules for the festival are Ga quiz competition on August 20, 2021; clean up exercise on August 21, 2021, and food bazaar on August 26, 2021.
The Osu and Adabraka traditional areas will be commencing their Homowo festivals on August 17, 2021, and August 14, 2021, respectively.
Homowo, from the Ga language, which translates into ‘hooting at hunger’ is a traditional festival of the Ga people in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana celebrated to commemorate the adequacy of food.
The tradition of Homowo started with a period of hunger leading to famine as a result of inadequate seasonal rains that was needed for the growth of crops during the period.
When the rains, however, returned to normal, the people commemorated it by creating the festival, hence its name, meaning and significance.
The festival begins with the planting of maize used in preparing the festival ‘Kpekple’ food, which is eaten with palm nut soup.
The food is also sprinkled within towns in the Ga state by traditional leaders and family heads amidst traditional singing and dancing to thank the gods for the abundance of food.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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