Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Using Homowo Festival to restore Accra to its greatness is good idea

At a Homowo durbar of chiefs and elders of the Gbese Traditional Area in Accra over the weekend, the Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayi-Bonte, urged the people to unite in their efforts to restore Accra to its greatness.

He explained that Homowo was not a period only for merrymaking but for deep introspection and reflections on the past, present, and future.

Nii Ayi-Bonte said it was very important for the people of Ga Mashie and Greater Accra, in general, to pause and take stock, reflecting on why it was lagging behind in its development despite being the national capital.

“We must celebrate this year’s Homowo, but we must not only make merry; we must also reflect on our past, present, and future and also find ways we will unite to build Accra,” he stressed.

In the sentiments expressed by the Gbese Mantse, who is also the Adonteng of the Ga State, he could not have chosen any other platform than the one offered by the Homowo festival, which is celebrated by the Ga-Dangme people in the Greater Accra Region.

Indeed, while congratulating the Gas for celebrating another festival, we would like to add our voice to the call by the Gbese Mantse, which we believe is also shared by all well-meaning indigenes and Ghanaians at large.

It goes without saying that the Ga state is a pale shadow of its past due to a myriad of factors, some of which are self-inflicted. Besides the many challenges faced by the Ga state being imposed by virtue of its being the capital city, conflicts, particularly chieftaincy and family feuds, have played a major role in the state of affairs in the Greater Accra Region.

It is heartwarming, however, that some of the chiefs have begun to take pragmatic steps towards mobilising the people to change course towards a path that would restore the region to its rightful place.

We have seen in recent times the mobilisation of the people to embark on a massive cleanup exercise, the settlement of disputes, collective efforts to recover property from the state, and many other initiatives to restore Accra to where it belongs.

These and many social intervention policies to empower the youth and build the human resource base would surely contribute positively to changing the narrative for the Ga state.

Once again, we commend Nii Gbese and all Ga-Dang­mes on this auspicious occasion and wish that the path to recovery would be smooth to restore Accra to its greatness.