By Lily Ahulu and Hellen Akweley Mensah
There was a rich display of culture and tradition as GBC-Obonu FM and TV climaxed its Heritage month celebration this year with a grand durbar. Traditional leaders including queen mothers, as well as market queens and other cultural enthusiasts, joined the management and staff of GBC-Obonu in displaying the rich Ga-Dangme culture through the adornment of traditional clothing, accessorized with hand, neck, waist, and ankle beads, with different shades of colorful traditional headgears.
There were also cultural performances from the La Dade Kotopon Cultural Group, treating guests to wonderful tunes of popular Ga-Dangme songs, as well as a stage play by the Ashw3 ni Amŋɔ Drama Group. The occasion was also used to mark a low-key version of the Station’s annual Kenkey Party.
A Seasoned Kenkey Seller, Madam Rebecca Atswei Mensah who had been in the business for more than 40 years took participants through her journey of how the delicacy is prepared. According to her, many have sort to dilute the processes involved in the preparation of the Ga Kenkey, a situation which she said could pose a health risk to consumers if not done well.
She said that in a bid to ensure that the kenkey cooks faster; some sellers introduce chemically manufactured spices to hasten the process. She encouraged the younger generation not to shy away from traditional occupations such as kenkey selling as it is a great source of livelihood. (She spoke Ga).
‘Formerly we were buying the maize and taking it to the miller ourselves, so any bad maize we find we take it out before sending it to be milled. But now we buy already prepared corn dough to prepare the kenkey and we can’t be sure how it is was prepared. All of these can cause problems for the consumer so the sellers must be cautious for the sake of customers’’.
The Acting President of the Tema Traditional Council, Nii Adjetey Agbo reiterated that the Ga-Dangme heritage is incomplete without its language; hence there is the need for indigenes to encourage and enforce its speaking and learning. (He spoke Ga)
‘If your language dies, your identity vanishes. So as traditional leaders we must try so that the Ga teachers that are transferred to other towns, we protest over that’’.
The Regional Director of GBC-Obonu FM and TV, Mrs. Loretta Vanderpuye, thanked the sponsors of the program; adding that the Obonu Kenkey party has come to stay. She said it is incumbent on parents to inculcate the cultural and moral values of society in their children.
‘Parents should speak their local language with their children. Parents should prepare our local dishes at home and also teach them to dress properly, not to expose the body and things like that’’, she added.
