Ghanaian Times: Celebrating Homowo amid coronavirus

This year’s annual celebration of Homowo would go down as one that has never happened before.

It would be a unique celebration because it cannot be celebrated in the usual festive mood due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Indeed, COVID-19 as it is also called has not allowed the normal celebration of any festival worldwide.

Locally, the celebration would take place in restricted areas in the Greater Accra Region and the Gas who would be celebrating, would do so with a lot of restraint unlike previous occasions.

There may not be street drumming and dancing, chanting, and face painting because of the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This would be contrary to the normal Homowo festival of the Ga tribe which is believed to have lineage from the Jewish tribe and its ancestral tradition of the pastoral feast.

Almost all the towns in the Ga state, Ga Mashie, Dangme and Awutu would celebrate without pomp but certainly the essence of the festival cannot be lost on the people of the area.

The significance of the festival is to commemorate the period in history when there was serious famine on the land.

Legend has it that there was a period in the history of the Ga kingdom when there was severe famine and the people faced starvation.

Instead of sitting and wallowing in self-pity, the people were said to have embarked on a vigorous cycle of food production and at the end had a bumper harvest.

They, therefore, celebrate the Homowo, to hoot at hunger and rejoice in their harvest.

That is the reason they celebrate by feasting and making of concoctions for the chiefs and people to sprinkle in the town to drive away spirits and protect themselves against diseases.

Furthermore, the occasion is used to bring the people together to live in harmony with each other.

The GhanaianTimes congratulates the Ga people on chalking another milestone and urges the people to reminisce on the hard work that led to the bumper harvest and translate it in the present into efforts to support the development of the country.

Just as the ancestors did in the face of hunger and famine, it is possible that with hard work the challenges facing the Ga state can be overcome.

We hope that they would celebrate in moderation and adhere to the COVID-19 protocols to prevent the spread of the disease.