UNESCO boss exchanging pleasantries with the Ga Mantse accompanied by the Ga Queen Mothers
The Ga Mantse His Royal Majesty (HRM) King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II has enstooled UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay as the new Developmental Queen mother of the Ga traditional council with the stool name Naa Adoley Oheyefio (beautiful) I.
The entire township of the Ga Traditional Council at North Kaneshie was in a state of celebration as it was the first time since the enstoolment of Nii Dr. Tetteh Kwei II in 2015 that a new queen mother has been enstooled to oversee the development of the Ga State.
As custom dictates, the queen mothers of the Ga traditional council gathered at the durbar grounds at Ga-mantse palace to adorn Ms. Azoulay with royal beads and traditional kente cloth. This was amid musket fires, drumming, and cultural displays.
As the enstoolment rite was performed, five young women decorated with white charcoal rhythmically shook bells indicating the acceptance of the newly enstooled queen mother by the Ga people.
UNESCO Representative in Ghana Abdourahamane Diallo, who spoke on behalf of the Director-General expressed gratitude to the Ga Traditional Council for the beautiful enstoolment rite and culture display performed in honour of Ms. Audrey Azoulay.
“The UNESCO delegation is very grateful for the beautiful ceremony being performed and now we understand why the Ga tradition is so renowned around the world,” he said.
Mr. Diallo reiterated UNESCO’s commitment to ensuring that its pragmatic focus on educating young people to contribute to Ghana’s culture and wealth through the power of reading remains undisrupted.
The Ga Mantse HRM King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II applauded the World Book Capital Advisory Committee for selecting the City of Accra as the 2023 World Book Capital, making the vibrant city part of the prestigious World Book Capital Cities Network.
He also called on the Ministry of Education to enforce compliance and ensure that all basic schools both government and private in the Greater Accra Region study the Ga language.
“The Ga-Adangbe language which is the mother tongue of the Ga-Dangbe region is rarely spoken or taught in schools in Accra today. This is due to the invasion of other cultures which has practically affected our ethnicity and language as a whole. It is a challenge as language defines our ethnicity as a people”, he said.
HRM King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II also revealed that most Ga graduate teachers are not posted into the Accra jurisdiction after completion of the course. This leads to the lack of qualified teachers to teach the subject.
“We appeal to the government to post the Ga graduate teachers to the Ga jurisdiction so that they can teach the Ga language in our schools. Also, we believe that UNESCO’s world book capital project wants to promote Ghanaian languages, especially Ga and Dangbe hence the need to have more teachers for the subject” he added.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke