Ga Mashie on August 13, turned red as people from the Ga State celebrated the 2022 Homowo Festival in a unique and colourful style.
The celebration saw the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II sprinkle kpokpoi (Traditional Food) on some principal streets and homes.
The 2022 celebration also saw some foreign nationals not only enjoy the kpokpoi but also have fun.
Some sub chiefs from various clans also took tye opportunity to sprinkled kpokpoi in their homes and prayed for protection.
The Ga Mantse called on people to be united adding that being one will help build a stronger and better Ga State.
King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II also poured libation and pleaded with the gods to cleanse the land, its people and also asked for protection them against strange diseases and mysterious deaths.
Some residents who spoke to Thinknewsonline.com thanked the gods for seeing them through a successful year.
They appealed to the Ga Mantse and government to extend employment to the teaming unemployed youths in the community.
There were firing of arms, music and enough to eat likewise drink.
The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia among others dignitaries stormed Ga Mashie to celebrate the occasion with the Ga Mantse and his subjects.
Background
Homowo (Homo – hunger, wo – hoot) can mean “to hoot (or jeer) at hunger” in the Ga language.
The tradition of Homowo started with a period of hunger leading to famine due to failure of the seasonal rains needed by crops in the Greater Accra Region, where the Ga people predominantly dwell.
When the rains returned to normal, the Ga people celebrated by creating the Homowo festival, hence its name and meaning.
Homowo is greatly celebrated in all the towns in the Ga state with celebrations climaxing in Gamashie.
The celebration begins with the planting of maize, which will be used in preparing the food for the festival named Kpokpoi or Kpekple.
During this period, noise making is prohibited or banned since it is believed that it disturbs the gods.
The meal is eaten with Palm Nut Soup and it is also sprinkled within the town. This is normally done by traditional leaders and family heads.
Celebration includes marching down roads and streets beating drums, chanting, face painting, singing and traditional dances.
Even though the celebration of Homowo is a Ga tradition, many other ethnic groups are welcomed to also join in the celebration.
The homowo festival of the Ga tribe is believed to have a lineage from the Jewish tribe and its ancestral tradition of the Jewish Passover feast.
Some of the towns that celebrate Homowo are La, Teshie, Nungua, Osu, Ga-Mashie, Tema among others.
Below are some pictures:
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith