By Nana Asare Mireku
Another opportunity to portray culture in pome and pageantry as Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, entreated Ghanaians to reflect on core traditional values and practices that bind them together for sustainable development.
Speaking at a durbar at Kyebi in the Eastern Region to climax this year’s Ohum festival, he urged the people to keep their environments clean to prevent diseases.
The festival gave the occasion for worship of the ancestral stools and the spirits of those who formally occupied them.
Dr. Bawumia described the Ohum festival as ”an iconic display of culture and unity of purpose which also stands as a tribute to the role of chieftaincy institutions in addressing national development challenges”.
He bemoaned the pollution of rivers with an alarming carelessness.
Dr. Bawumia said, economies around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, leading to government’s focus on building human capital through education.
The Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panin commended the government on the “Green Ghana Project” and the dedicated effort against illegal mining activities that pollute water bodies.
He disclosed that, a hindrance to national progress has been the divorce of intellectuals, social policy makers and entrepreneurs from their native Communities occasioned by the need to seek economic opportunities in concentrated urban centers.
Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panin added, ”the festival is to serve as the springboard and a clarion call on all Akyem citizens both home and abroad to submit to meaningful re-engagement with their Communities and Families.”
He urged Ghanaians to live in peace and harmony with one another.
The festival, which was on the theme, “Good old traditions for Sustainable Development”, was graced by the Akwamuhene, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto and the Okuapemhene, Oseadeyo Kwasi Akuffo amongst other dignitaries.
