Nana Kobina Nketsia V
This year’s edition of the annual Kundum Festival, which is under the theme: ‘the nature of corruption and morality in indigenous African community for nation building’, has been launched at Essikado in the Western Region.
The month-long festival would commence from Sunday, July 14 to Sunday, August 18, 2019.
Activities lined up for the month-long festival include community cleaning, vigil of the flames, Ebise dancing competition, Kundum healthy lifestyle, medical screening, quiz competition, brass band competition, musical concert, among others.
Speaking at the launch of the festival, Nana Kwesi Agyemang IX, Omanhene of Lower Dixcove Traditional Area, who chaired the ceremony, explained that Kundum is an annual festival celebrated by the Ahanta tribe.
According to him, the festival is a period for reconciliation, settling family and community disputes, and that it is a mandatory custom to be celebrated each year except for extreme cases where for some peculiar reasons it cannot be celebrated.
He emphasized that reconciliation needs to take place before the main celebration of the festival, hinting this is to ensure that members of the community co-exist in unity and in harmony.
Nana Kwesi Agyemang IX advised traditional heads to be forgiving and lead exemplary lives for their subjects to emulate.
He, however, urged parents to be responsible by taking care of their children to ensure their safety and called on the police to increase security to enhance the safety of the people of the area, especially that of children.
The Omanhene of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, together with other traditional chiefs in Sekondi, called on traditional heads of the various traditional councils and indigenes to actively involve themselves in all the activities of the festival.
On her part, the Deputy Western Regional Minister, Eugenia Gifty Kusi, stated that corruption is a major canker hindering the development of the country, which must be properly tackled.
She said government has put in place measures, including the elimination of ghost names from government payroll and the setting of the Special Prosecutor’s office, all in a bid to fight corruption.
Mrs. Kusi thanked the chiefs and people of the region for upholding the festival over the years.