The periodic ban on drumming and noisemaking by the Ga Traditional Council ahead of its Homowo festival every year is meant to revitalise the land and the period of no noise used to pray for the growth of businesses and good health for citizens, hence the culture should not be disrespected, the Chief of Osu, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, has said.
The Glory Temple Charismatic Ministry last month petitioned the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Kofi Dzamesi, to quash the ban on drumming and noisemaking by the traditional authority.
According to the church, the ban is unlawful and breaches freedom of worship since Christians cannot sing or drum in their church during the period.
But explaining the essence of the ban on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Wednesday, 7 June 2017, Nii Dowuona VI said: “Most at times we just say things without finding out why it was instituted.
“This ban on drumming has been there since Adam because it was instituted from the Bible, because the Lord Almighty created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
“Now let me ask you a question: As custodians of the land, we till the land almost every day of the year, so if God rested on the seventh day and we say for a period of three weeks to one month let the land that we till rest so that it revitalises. Is that a crime? I don’t think so because it has to revitalise and by ban on noisemaking the land rest.
“And it doesn’t just rest but what we do is during that time, we fast and pray. We pray for businesses to thrive, we pray for our children’s education to move on, we pray for healthy citizens, we pray for everybody so it is not just that ‘don’t make noise’ and we sit down. No, the Wulomei [traditional priests] and the Wɔnyei [priestesses] go into confinement and they make sure they pray for a good harvest.
“The sowing or the planting of seed is significant because it’s symbolic. You sow the seed and make sure during the prayers you see how it germinates. It is also a sign to see what will come out the following year, depending on how fertile it grows. So it is not just trying to lord it over everybody, but we are trying to revitalise the land and businesses because formerly we were farmers, we were farming, and had to revitalise the land. But now those farms have turned to businesses so when we ask for prayers, we ask for prayers for businesses.”
The one month ban on drumming and noisemaking began on Monday May 8 and will end on June 8, 2017.
Source:Ghana/AccraFM.com
