Shun politicians who will make you foment trouble -- Ga Odumase Chief urges citizens
Last Saturday, the Chief and people of Ga Odumase, near Amasaman, celebrated their annual "Oboutu Homowo" Festival with a call on the citizens to shun politicians who would want to stimulate them to foment trouble in the run-up to the general election this year.
The Chief of Ga Odumase, Nii Acquah II, urged the people to "avoid politicians who would ask us to go and loot and destroy people’s property during and after the elections".
He said Ghana was known worldwide as a peaceful country and, therefore, urged the people to go calmly to their polling stations on election day, cast their ballot and return home to wait for the results.
"We have nowhere to go if the country is thrown into violence," he said.
Nii Acquah urged all eligible voters to cast their votes according to their conscience.
Dressed in a traditional warrior’s outfit, Nii Acquah II went round the streets of the town amid traditional music and chanting of war songs, sprinkling “Kpokpoi”, a traditional food of the Ga people, along the street and in sacred places.
Nii Acquah also sprinkled Kpokpoi in the town’s cemetery and in the family homes of the five royal families in the Odumase community.
The five royal families are the Numo Achia We, Tackie Ayensu We, Numo Kwao Amardey We, Korkor Sampah We and Naa Ayeley We.
Ga Odumase is a sub-division of Sempe, one of the seven traditional quarters of the Ga Mashie division in the Ga state.
According to Nii Acquah, who gave a brief history of the town during the celebration, Ga Odumase, which is under the Ga Sempe authority, is made of three towns, namely Amanfrom, Dome Sampa and Pampaaso.
He explained that on every occasion of Homowo, Kpokpoi is offered first to the ancestors before the community partakes of the meal.
Nii Acquah said the festival also served as a platform on which citizens of the town, both home and abroad, met and took decisions regarding its development.
He said Odumase presently faced some challenges, including poor roads and the absence of a health facility. He added that the town also did not have potable water and a police station.
Nii Acquah, therefore, appealed to the government, non-governmental organisations and benevolent individuals and organisations to support with the provision of those amenities.
In various remarks, the elders of the community and invited guests appealed for peaceful elections.
The elders, in addition, called for unity among the people of Ga Odumase and nearby towns in order to foster development in the area.
A number of chiefs in the Ga state were present at the festival. Among them were the Chief of Amasaman, Nii Amasa Oseku II, and the Chief of Oduman, Nii Odu II.