Tema: 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.
According to Ghana News Agency, 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 emphasized that peace was very important in developing the community and therefore non-negotiable.
He expressed gratitude that there was no disunity or chieftaincy fight, which allowed all the clan houses to fully participate. He acknowledged that past misunderstandings were being tackled, noting 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.
Nii Amarh Somponu II, Tema Shipi and Stool Secretary, highlighted that the council started smoking peace pipes last December with feuding families to discuss the importance of promoting peace in the community. He mentioned that the council was in the process of getting the right nomination and enstoolment of a Tema Chief following the death of Nii Adjei Kraku II some years back.
Mr. Isaac Ashia Odamtten, the Member of Parliament for Tema East, emphasized that festivals should serve as engines of bonding the people. He commended the traditional council for their efforts to bridge peace gaps in the area and for spicing the Homowo with fun activities, encouraging Tema people in and out of Ghana to find Homowo as an occasion to visit home and be part of the traditions and customs.
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.”