ACCRA – In a powerful display of tradition, the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, led a historic procession last Saturday to the ancestral burial grounds of Ga kings, performing sacred rites to conclude the 2025 Homowo festival.
The ceremony, known as ‘Maamε’ (a journey to the ancestral grounds), is a royal tradition held exactly one week after the Homowo celebration. Under tight security and accompanied by traditional warriors, the King visited the King Tackie Tawiah Royal Mausoleum in Tesano and other historic sites, including an old cemetery in Adabraka.
Moving solemnly between tombstones, the King offered prayers for his people, sprinkling the festival food kpokpoi and pouring libations of schnapps and water. The ritual began at the tomb of the first Ga King, Nii Tackie Tawiah I, in a private ceremony closed to cameras.
“We believe their spirits are still around us,” explained palace storyteller Nii Kwardey Ntreh. “We feed them with whatever we eat during the festival as a remembrance.”
The day culminated in a majestic parade from Agbogbloshie to Makola Market, where thousands lined the streets to cheer the revered monarch. The eight-hour event was filled with drumming, dancing, and musket fire.
A Call for Unity
The ceremony underscored deep cultural roots and a call for solidarity. Queenmother Naa Lamiley Ajaaku Dromo II expressed a shared hope: “We must learn to tolerate one another and embrace love and unity, for that is the only path to progress.”
The rituals began with spiritual cleansing rites involving sacred fire and concluded with the community sprinkling themselves with blessed water for renewal and protection, marking a close to this year's Homowo festivities.
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