Christmas fever catches up with Tamale
The Christmas season in Tamale seems to have caught up with most inhabitants of the city as the streets are buzzing with activities all in preparation towards the yuletide.
Advertisement
For the past week, the streets have seen unusual increase in crowds mostly around commercial areas and markets as people from nearby towns and villages travel to Tamale to shop for the occasion.
The streets around the Melcom Stores near the main traffic lights and those around the Forsmuel and Quality First Supermarkets opposite the main taxi rank continue to register a large number of patrons even on Sundays.
Despite the increase in the number of buyers during this season, prices of goods have not seen any significant increase.
According to Seidu Inusah, a smock dealer along the Tamale-Bolgatanga road, the prices for his smocks remained the same despite the increase in demand.
He said the Gonja-made smock continued to sell for GH¢150 while the Dagomba-made smock was sold for GH¢85.
A seemingly frustrated shoe dealer, Mr Muniru Adams, told the Daily Graphic: “My brother, I believe some people are still holding back their monies because sales are quite poor; for me I recorded better sales last year than this year”.
He said a significant number of his customers complained of inadequate money and the fact that they were preparing to pay their children’s school fees in January, next year.
Other Trending Stories
As people troop to Tamale either to purchase goods for the Christmas or stay to celebrate the event, so do others travel to other cities, villages and towns for the event.
Many shop owners do not usually open their shops on Sundays but some of them now open, apparently to cater for customers who might want to buy some of their goods for the Christmas.
Madam Cecelia, a seamstress whose shop is located around the Tamale Metropolitan Office of the Forestry Commission, said she had to go to work even on Sunday after church in order to finish sewing the clothes of her clients before Christmas day.
Commuters
The premises of the various lorry stations were very crowded on Friday and Saturday with people scrambling everywhere to get tickets to enable them to travel to their destinations.
An attendant at the Kumasi Station of the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU) who gave his name as Kwarus said they had some challenges last Friday and Saturday because many educational institutions started their vacation, and that meant more passengers.
“But we were prepared for the situation and were, therefore, able to provide buses to convey all our travellers,” he said.
Some commercial drivers have also taken advantage of the situation to allegedly charge exorbitant fares as it is increasingly becoming difficult for commuters to get vehicles to their various destinations.
Just as there are commuters who want to travel by road, there are also a significant number of residents who are patronising the domestic flights.
A visit to various institutions including drinking spots showed that those places were adorned with Christmas trees and other paraphernalia associated with the season. Some businessmen in the metropolis have also inaugurated new entertainment centres to cash in on the festivities.
Preparation
Some residents stated that they were rather keeping their monies to celebrate the New Year and so they were being careful about their spending.
Others said they were apprehensive about buying anything now for fear that prices might be arbitrarily increased because of the season.
A hairdresser, popularly called Daavi, whose shop is located at Jisonayili, a suburb of Tamale, for instance, stated that she had saved some money to go for shopping for herself and her two children but she was skeptical about the prices of shoes and clothing saying “prices are likely to go up this season and I am thinking whether to wait a bit or go for the shopping”.
Advertisement
Church activities
Various church activities have also been lined up for the season as Christmas conventions are being held throughout the metropolis. Activities outlined by the churches include Christmas Convention, vigil, carols services and children’s programmes.
Some residents have also taken the opportunity to travel outside the metropolis to places suah as Kumasi, Accra and their respective hometowns to celebrate Christmas. The metropolis is increasingly becoming busier owing to the influx of holiday-makers into the sprawling city.
Christmas messages
Meanwhile, some Christian leaders in Tamale have cautioned Christians not to forget the significance of the occasion as they meet with friends and family members to celebrate Christmas.
Rev. Fr Camillo Bonsuuri and Rev. Fr Gerald Zienaa of the Ss Peter and Paul Catholic Church have asked Christians to let Christ reflect in all their celebrations during this season.
Advertisement
They observed that Christmas had been overly secularised and commercialised with little emphasis on the religious aspect of the event.
They, therefore, urged Christians to take back the celebration of Christmas to let it reflect the reason for the season.
Their views were corroborated by Pastor Aaron Lambon Fant of the Sanctuary of Wind and Fire Assemblies of God Church in Tamale.
He said Christmas was all about the birth, mission and life of Christ and all celebrations must be geared towards emulating his life.
Advertisement
Pastor Fant said Christmas celebrations must be done towards enhancing the lives of Christians and bringing non-Christians to the saving knowledge of Christ.
He expressed regret that recent celebrations of the event had been characterised by immorality and hanky-panky lifestyles and urged Christians to avoid such behaviours during this season.