Akosua Manu
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Akosua Manu, has paid courtesy calls on some traditional rulers in the Ga Traditional Council ahead of the 2023 Homowo Festival in the Greater Accra Region.
The move was to seek their support, and blessings and also to announce her ambition to become a parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the Adenta Constituency, after filing the nomination forms to contest in the forthcoming primaries of the party.
Accompanied by some of the party delegates, she used the opportunity to donate some items to the chiefs at the various communities she visited.
In a brief remark, she rendered the usual Homowo greetings of ‘Afi oo afi’ before explaining the purpose of the visit, followed by paying homage to the chiefs.
The aspiring NPP parliamentary candidate for Adenta noted that the government would promote an agenda that would ensure greater national inclusiveness.
She further encouraged the traditional leaders to keep up with the good initiatives being undertaken in the area by the Akufo-Addo-led government, with a pledge to be a partner in that regard.
The chiefs also used the occasion to seek blessings, good health, and prosperity from the ancestors for her on her political journey.
The Homowo festival is an important festival in the Ga traditional calendar which is translated as ‘hooting at hunger’.
The festival is a commemoration of a devastating famine occasioned by a drought that occurred in their history in pre-colonial Ghana. The festival starts in August with the planting of crops (mainly maize and yam) before the raining season starts.
During this period, noise-making is prohibited or banned since it is believed that it will hinder the maturity of the crops.
Even though it is a Ga traditional festival, many other ethnic groups also partake in the celebrations.