Accra (Greater Accra), 7th May ?99 ?
Christians have been asked to restrict the use of drums to their churches and avoid unnecessary noise making during the period of the ban on drumming by the Ga Traditional Council in the interest of peace and reconciliation.
The Ga traditional Council was also asked to respond to this gesture by respecting the way of worship of Christians.
A statement issued by the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal Council after a meeting in Accra on Wednesday, noted that the prohibition on drumming is not new, and is not peculiar to the Ga Traditional area alone.
It is enforced in other parts of the country for social, cultural and religious motives.
"This and other cultural and religious practices have been with us for many years and have until recently not been the cause of conflict for anyone. There has always been an understanding between us and our traditional leaders and we have always lived together in peace and tranquillity."
It questioned why the prohibition on drumming and noise making has been made mandatory and asked:
"Is it probably urged by the fact that there is indeed an increase in undue noise-making and drumming which go on in certain places till well in the night, if not starting too early in the morning. Or could they also be due to the insults and abuses which some newly-founded Churches hurl on traditional authorities?"
The statement said they denounce "these unfortunate behaviours" which they deem to be unchristian.
"We love our culture and respect our traditional leaders, but we strongly believe that the statement from the Ga Traditional Council infringes on our basic human and constitutional rights.
"We are being asked to involve ourselves in traditional religious practices which we do not believe in. We are being forced to avoid something that our religion expects us to do, namely, to sing, drum and praise God.
"Our traditional leaders should not force us to do something against our conscience. Such an action is against our human rights. It will not be in the interest of our traditional leaders and will cause disaffection and lead to violence which will not augur well for our country."
The statement said because of the Christian call to be peace-loving, they have tried to deal with the problem and have sought and obtained an audience with the National House of Chiefs and a joint committee is discussing the issue.
"...we hope that the Ga Traditional Council would respond to our gesture by respecting our way of worship," it said.
The statement was signed by The Most Reverend Peter K.A. Turkson, President, Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Rev. Monsignor Jonathan T.A. Ankrah, Secretary General, National Catholic Secretariat and the Rt. Rev. J.O. Akrofi, Chairman, Christian Council of Ghana.
Other signatories are the Rev. Dr Simon B. Asore, President, Ghana Pentecostal Council and the Rev. Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, General Secretary, Christian Council of Ghana.
The Ga traditional council last week placed a month-long ban on drumming in Accra as a prelude to the celebration of their annual Homowo festival.
The call has led to tension between the council and some charismatic churches who see it as infringing on their right to worship.
In another development a team of government officials met Ga traditional authorities on the issue.
The team comprised of Mr Kofi Totobi Quakyi, Minister of State Security, Nii Okaija Adamafio, Minister of the Interior, Mr Daniel Ohene Agyekum, Greater Accra Regional Minister and Mr Samuel Addokwei Addo, Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive.
A release from the Ministry of Communications said the meeting deliberated "on issues pertaining to the month-long customary ban on drumming and dancing in the Ga State".
The traditional authorities noted that "for years, the Christian community and other residents have observed the customary ban".
However, "the existing mutual understanding and harmonious relationship is being threatened by certain church groups, who have made it a point to castigate and show disrespect for the culture and traditions of the Ga people".
"The delegation of Ga chiefs and elders demanded an end to the disrespectful attitude of some church leaders towards them in the interest of peace and harmony."
They took exception of pronouncements made on some local FM station saying, "such statements are deliberate provocation by some people with ulterior motives".
The government team "pointed out that the Ministry of Communications had already issued a statement denouncing the irresponsible utterances made against the Ga State and its traditions by unidentified callers on local FM station programmes".
They advised the traditional authorities "against adopting hard-line attitudes on account of the unfortunate statements" and sought clarification on the boundaries and limits of the ban.
The team stressed the "need for a spirit of dialogue to prevail among all the parties concerned" and appealed to "Ga traditional leaders and elders to advise their youth to desist from acts of confrontation and violence".
Efforts are being made to bring all sides together to discuss the issues in greater details since it involves "the rather delicate issue of balancing observance and respect for tradition and culture with the rights of the freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution".
