Kwahu oo - 2025 Easter celebration on the scarp

In Ghana, one area well noted for the Easter celebration is the Kwahu Traditional Area.

Kwahu has become synonymous with Easter and all the towns on the Kwahu Scarp, such as Obomeng, Mpraeso, Abetifi, Obo Twenedurase, Bepong, Atibie, Aduamoa and Abene, the traditional headquarters of the paramountcy, get crowded during the period of the festivities, beginning from Good Friday to Easter Monday.

Apart from Kwahu indigenes in the diaspora and those living in different parts of Ghana undertaking homeward journeys to their ancestral land for various activities such as marriages and raising of funds for development projects, foreign tourists also troop to the place for sightseeing and to be abreast of the Ghanaian culture during the period.

Magnificent buildings

The picturesque nature of the area with well-laid towns and magnificent buildings and mansions in communities such as Obo Twenedurase, Bepong, Asakaraka, Obomeng, Mpraeso among others makes it a tourist destination, hence the heavy inflow of people to the area.

Some revellers having a good time during the festivities

This year, however, witnessed a low turnout compared to previous years due to the hard economic reality facing most Ghanaians, high transport costs and the previous chieftaincy issues in the area.

However, all the planned activities, such as the world-acclaimed paragliding during which foreign and Ghanaian gliders took off from the top of the Odweanoma Mountain at Atibie, encircling the Kwahu towns from the air before landing at the Nkawkaw Sports Stadium, came on as expected.

Another major event - the Kwahu Business Forum, the second in a series, was also held.

It was a gathering of giants in commerce and industry to see how best locals and foreigners can link up in all spheres in such areas.

Paragliding

Paragliding is the main activity which attracted Kwahu indigenes both at home and abroad, as well as other revellers, notably foreigners, to the Easter festivities.

Although the streets were deserted during the day, at night they were a beehive of activities

It began on Friday, April 18 and ended on Monday, April 21, with foreign pilots from the United States of America (USA), Germany, Romania, Peru taking off from the summit of the Odweanoma Mountain near Atibie with tandem passengers to encircle the towns mid-air for about 30 minutes before landing at the Nkawkaw Sports Stadium.

Apart from the foreign pilots, a Ghanaian glider, Jonathan Quaye, also flew with another Ghanaian passenger.

Each of the passengers paid an airfare of GH¢1,350.

Although the flights looked frightening with many people anticipating disaster, no such calamity occurred, and all the flyers, particularly the passengers, could be seen smiling and waving to the enthusiastic crowd mid-air and after landing.

One of the Ghanaian tandem passengers, Abigail Ashley, who hosts My Health, My Life Programme on UTV, said it was not frightening but rather very interesting and encouraged other females to do the same in subsequent flights.

Flagship tourism

Earlier in an address by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts,  Dzifa Abla Gomashie, who was represented by her deputy, Yussif Issaka Jajah, she said over the years, the festival had grown to become one of Ghana’s flagship tourism events, attracting thousands of adventure enthusiasts, families and tourists from all walks of life.

Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, Eastern Regional Minister, speaking at the event

She said the event showcased not only the thrill of flight but also the beauty, warmth and hospitality that Ghana was renowned for.

"I'm deeply proud of how this event continues to highlight the rich cultural heritage, breathtaking landscapes and cultural experiences in Ghana", Mr Jajah read.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, who was excited about the paragliding festival, stated that the region had been blessed with vast natural resources, rich culture and welcoming people.

She indicated that it was, therefore, the collective responsibility and duty of all to harness such natural resources to strengthen the advancement of communities in the region and the country as a whole.

Mrs Awatey believed that the festival highlighted the tremendous potential of tourism in driving economic growth, creating jobs and promoting the cultural heritage of the people.

Leading destination

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Maame Efua Houadjeto, stated that the GTA was committed to making Ghana the leading tourist destination in West Africa and that the paragliding festival played a critical role in achieving such a goal.

Yussif Issaka Jajah, Deputy Minister of Tourism, delivering an address at the Paragliding Festival

She pointed out that the festival attracted thousands of tourists, providing memorable experiences and at the same time boosting domestic tourism.

That, Mrs Houadjeto said, would in turn create more jobs, as well as generate more revenue for the local community, particularly the youth.

Marriages among the indigenes also played a vital role at the Easter festivities, with many young persons coming together as couples with the blessings of their parents in almost all the towns.

Such marriages had been planned for months before the actual dates.

Street carnivals

Hundreds of revellers, both indigenes and foreigners, paraded through the main streets of the towns with Obomeng as the epicentre.

Maame Efua Houadjeto, acting CEO, Ghana Tourism Authority

The crowd sang and danced to brass band music in a joyful atmosphere. At the same time, giant speakers were mounted at vantage points to increase the vibration from the brass bands, while the patronage of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages was also on the high side.

Since many of the towns, especially those in the communities in the area, lack social amenities, the indigenes and the home-comers organised activities to raise funds for the construction of amenities such as community centres, rehabilitation of roads and school buildings.

Huge sums of money were released at such gatherings in most areas to fund the projects.

Business forum

Kwahus by nature are traders, entrepreneurs and industrialists.

While most of them are petty traders in the big towns in Ghana, others are giants in business and industry.

As such, the government of the day decided to bring all those involved together during the Easter festivities to see how best to boost trade and industry.

This year's event, which took place at the Mpraeso Community Centre, was addressed by the President, John Dramani Mahama, who assured Ghanaians, especially the business community, of his government’s support to enable them to boost their operations despite the fall in the value of the cedi.

He also told the gathering that the government would take the necessary steps to restore investor confidence in the economy to enable more investors to do business in the country.

At the same forum, the Chief of Abetifi, Akyemfuo Asiedu Agyeman III, who is also the Adontenhene of Kwahu, made a passionate appeal to President Mahama to complete works on the abandoned Abetifi Government Hospital.

The structure, which the government started, is 35 per cent complete and it was one of the health facilities being funded by the government of the United Kingdom (UK) at a cost of $175 million.

The chief indicated that the project, which started in 2015, was abandoned in 2017, adding that its completion would go a long way to address the health needs of the people in the area.

Low patronage

An indigene, Janet Kissiwaa Agyapong from Obomeng, who was not happy about the low patronage this year, said paragliding, which had been the main attraction of the festivities, had not gone through any innovation and that the usual flight had become monotonous with many people not willing to observe or take part in the celebrations.

She also stated that the cost of the flight, pegged at GH¢1,350 by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), had been on the high side, making many prospective flyers unable to afford such an amount.

Mrs Agyapong further indicated that Kwahus, by nature, were very peaceful and that the current chieftaincy disputes at the paramountcy had put fear in both revellers and indigenes who had decided to stay at home quietly.

Revellers

One of the revellers, Richard Bempong from Accra, told the Daily Graphic that despite the much anticipated high patronage of this year's Kwahu Easter festivities, the turnout, he observed, was rather low as compared to last year.

He attributed the cause of the situation to hard economic difficulties and chieftaincy issues that the area was battling.

Mr Bempong emphasised that, comparatively, previous festivities on the Kwahu scarp had been very high because there were no such economic and chieftaincy problems.

On the security situation at the Kwahu Easter festivities, the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Grace Ansah-Akrofi, who briefed the media, said the police intensified its operations with the deployment of personnel and officers from the Police Intelligence Unit to maintain law and order during the festive period.

She further revealed that no major road crashes occurred during the period, attributing the success to the deployment of officers from the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) who worked tirelessly to ensure traffic safety and smooth vehicular movement.

She described the event as peaceful and incident-free and hoped that next year’s event would follow the same pattern.

The Omanhene of the Kwahu Traditional Area, Daasebre Akuamoah Boateng III, who was happy about the Kwahu Easter festivities, congratulated all and sundry, especially Kwahu indigenes, for making the celebration peaceful.

That, he indicated was a clear demonstration of the unity and togetherness among the chiefs and people of the Kwahu Traditional Area, stressing that the area would soon be witnessing infrastructure development, as well as improvement in the celebration of Kwahu Easter in future.

An observation made by the Daily Graphic during the festivities was that almost all the principal streets in the major towns such as Obomeng, Mpraeso, Obo, Atibie, Bepong, Nkwatia, Abetifi and Abene were virtually empty during the day time, painting the picture that the area was not observing any Easter festivities.

The same streets went agog with hordes of frolickers during the night.

Writer's email: haruna.wunpini@graphic.com.gh