Government to partner New Juaben Traditional Council to mark Akwantukese festival

Government has announced commitment to partnering the New Juaben Traditional Council to revive Akwantukese festival to become biggest festival to be celebrated annually in December.

The Akwantukese Festival was marked annually getting to the end of the year to commemorate the great migration of the ancestors of the chiefs and people of New Juaben from the Ashanti over a century ago.

‘Akwantukese’ to wit the Great Migration signifies the exodus of Juabens and their allies from their ancestral homes in Asante to establish the autonomous New Juaben settlement in the Eastern Region of Ghana in the 1870s.

The festival however took a nosedive for some years due to poor planning by the traditional council under the previous leadership.

The newly enstooled Omanhene of New Juaben traditional Area, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III has however expressed strong desire to revive the festival to the highest level.

Speaking at a dinner and awards night held in Koforidua under the auspices of Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III Omanhene of New Juaben on December 26, 2022 the Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong said government has decided to partner New Juaben traditional area to revive Akwantukese and make it one of the biggest festivals in Ghana.

“Government is committed to partnering the traditional council to make the Akwantukese festival a huge festival.

Government will get involve and support.When you look around this Christmas you see the communities organizing homecoming events, we will put all these together and climax it with the festival in coming years”.

A renowned legal practitioner Gabby Okyere Darko,who Chaired the event said government will rally all necessary state agencies to come onboard for the planning of the Akwantukese beginning next year.

“According to Daasebre, in December when almost everyone is back home and the diasporans have returned as well as international tourists have also returned because December is month of return to Ghana.

So we want those people who return to Ghana to make Akwantukese festival a traditional festival to attract those people.Daasebre says he is going to form a committee that Regional Minister will be part and government will also be part, the MPs and MCEs has no choice. Businesses must all support because when we make Akwantukese big and it attracts the numbers- the African diasporans, and the global diasporans, hold entertainment events will all help the economy and businesses”

Meanwhile, the Omanhene of New Juaben traditional Area Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III is pioneering the establishment of New Juaben Rural Bank and a modern Girls Senior High School in the traditional area.

The establishment of the proposed rural bank according to the Omanhene aims at supporting small scale enterprises and traders in New Juaben to stimulate the local economy and create job opportunities for the youth.

Present at the event were Aburihene Otuobuor Gyan Kwasi, Member of Parliament and municipal Chief Executive for New Juaben South Michael Okyere Baafi and Isaac Appaw Gyasi respectively as well as some sub-chiefs and dignitaries.

Ghc226, 500 cedis plus $500 were actualized during a spontaneous fund raising by the Member of Parliament for New Juaben South Michael Okyere Baafi

Medals and trophies were presented to winners of the Daasebre Table Tennis competition held on Thursday December 22, 2022 at the Yiadom Hwedie palace.

The New Juaben Table Tennis club also presented a citation to Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III for his commitment to developing the sport in Koforidua.