Shai Traditional Council launches Ngmayem Festival
The 2015 Annual Ngmayem Festival of Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region has been launched by the people of the Shai Traditional Area, with a call on the government to consider relocating the capital city, Accra, to Dodowa.
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The Chief of Dodowa, Nene Tei Kwesi Agyemang V, who made the call, said Dodowa provided the nation with the best alternative with respect to environmental friendliness and vast land for developmental projects and historical sites.
Ngmayem Festival
The festival, which is celebrated annually, is used to reflect strides the people have made after they experienced a severe drought in the past.
Explaining the significance of the festival, the acting president of the Shai Traditional Area, Nene Nonor Soege V, said the festival explained the struggles of the forebears of the area.
He mentioned that despite the difficulties they had experienced the people of Shai had been plagued with chieftaincy disputes and unnecessary quarrels which had denied them several development projects such as good roads, potable water, job opportunities for the youth and other basic social amenities.
According to him, the Ngmayem Festival is a period during whic all residents of the area come together to reflect on their successes, unite as one people, share development ideas, make merry and pray for bumper harvests.
He also said they had created a very conducive atmosphere for the celebrations, creating a platform for the various towns and villages such as Manajopanya and Kordiabe to celebrate their own mini durbars before climaxing the month-long celebrations at Dodowa.
Grand durbar
He noted that the main event would end with a grand durbar at which the chiefs and people would be allowed to showcase their rich cultural beliefs and regalia to the rest of the world.
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“We the people of Shai have taken a number of years to solve our differences and are poised to move ahead with a determined and reconstituted mind to develop the area,” he stated.
The Chief of Dodowa, Nene Tei Kwesi Agyemang V, also added that the area had experienced tremendous peace and would not allow any selfish individuals or groups to mar that peace.
He therefore appealed to the youth and people of the area to support the leadership of the Shai Traditional Council to sustain that progress and make the area an attractive tourist site in order to earn some income to develop the area.
“Shai has numerous tourist attraction sites, with historical background stories that need to be told,” he stressed.
He used the occasion to announce a series of events to herald the celebration which included a health walk through the town, a clean-up exercise, health screening, storytelling time, where historical facts are told to the youth by chiefs and elders of the town.
He added that a fashion show would be held to select an intelligent, beautiful, cultured and outstanding lady to represent Shai.