Deaf gods on Accra’s roads, highways
Accra’s gods must be deaf, because if they were not, then the ban on drumming and noise making in place since May 4 to June 4, 2026, should apply to the city’s roads and highways.
As it is now, a statement issued by the Ga Traditional Council taking effect in the Greater Accra Region appears to exempt streets and roads from the prohibition.
The ban marks a period of the performance of sacred ancestral rites leading to the celebration of the Homowo Festival.
In a message from the traditional council, circulated via video, the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, called on all residents to observe the sacred period with discipline and respect, adding that “The time has come once again for the sacred rites of our ancestors.
We are entering the period of silence to prepare for our great festival, Homowo.”
Road noises
The period of silence, however, appears to apply to all public spaces except roads and highways.
On a typical day, the city’s busy roads are filled with noise.
Beyond the calls of hawkers and the sounds from defective engines, the most disturbing noise often comes from commercial vehicles and motorcycles.
Commercial vehicle drivers honk incessantly to attract the attention of prospective passengers and to alert slow-moving vehicles.
For motorcyclists, the noise can be deafening.
Apart from the constant honking — often because they are unwilling or unable to slow down or stop — some motorcycles produce exhaust noises that are not only disturbing but also frightening, with some riders deliberately revving their engines in traffic.
Revving prevents motorcycles from stalling in traffic; however, from what is experienced on roads, most are stunts and not measures to keep the cycle running.
Particularly disturbing are the noises deliberately produced by some motorcyclists who remove silencers from their motorcycles.
Silencers, which are components of the exhaust system designed to reduce engine noise, are often removed to make the motorcycles feel lighter and to attract attention in traffic.
Noise effects
The effects of noise are varied and inimical. Indeed, even the gods of Accra hate it for a period (and I wonder why merely for a period, does it mean they function efficiently with such high levels of noise in the city after the period of the ban?)
Apart from hearing loss, high noise levels that are sudden, deafening and incessant, as experienced on Accra’s roads, can be associated with hypertension, heart diseases, fatigue, sleeplessness, and mental challenges.
The 2022 Compendium of WHO and other UN Guidance on Health and Environment confirms this, adding that excessive noise can annoy.
Sensitisation opportunity
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), charged with ensuring no noise pollution, has lost a great sensitisation opportunity during the period of the ban on noise-making and drumming.
It would have been great if the period had been used to sensitise all to the adverse effects of noise, particularly on our roads.
The EPA has permissible ambient (that is, continuous, composite sounds in an environment), which it measures across the city, and that statistic would have been a great education in relation to road noise.
The Greater Accra Regional Peace Council (GARPC), in a statement, said the month’s observance was for “reflection, spiritual cleansing, and performing customary rites.”
It further encouraged all to adhere to the directive, while harping on its statutory mandate in the promotion of peace and harmony in the region.
Perhaps the GARPC should also realise one effect of noise annoyance, which can ignite conflicts and quarrels and support the efforts of less noise on our roads, not only for the period of the ban, but always.
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