The Ga Traditional Council (GTC) has announced that the annual ban on drumming and noise-making as part of preparations for this year's Homowo Festival would commence from May 15 to June 15, 2023.

According to the GTC, the ban would affect any form of noise-making, including the use of loudspeakers, drums, tambourines, roadside evangelism, clapping of hands and any form of musical instruments within the Ga State as well as the holding of funerals.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, the Public Relations Officer of the Council, Nii Lartey Anum Tetteh said the prayer during the period would focus on peace, love, tranquillity and good spirit for the country.

He stated that a task force working with REGSEC and various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies had been set up to collaborate with the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies to monitor and ensure compliance with the ban and prosecute culprits who fail to comply. 

The council urged the general public to take notice and observe the rules regarding the ban to help maintain peace, harmony and security within the Ga state.

The council also entreated religious bodies, traditional councils and other stakeholders within the Ga state to comply with the month-long ban and refrain from making derogatory remarks about the rites, customs, practices, usages and beliefs of the Ga people.

The guidelines established to ensure full compliance include confining the usual form of worship to the premises of churches/mosques with noise levels minimized to the barest limits possible, a ban on positioning loudspeakers outside the premises of churches, mosques and pubs as well as activities of roadside evangelists. 

Apart from an identifiable task force which consists of AMA personnel, the Police Service and Representatives of the Traditional Councils with tags, no other person or group of persons should be seen or found enforcing the abatement of noise in the metropolis the GTC said. 

In a related development, the Ga Mantse honoured Nathaniel Nii Antiaye Codjoe, a University of Cape Coast (UCC) Medical School graduate who swept 16 out of 22 awards at the university’s 55th Congregation for the College of Health and Allied Sciences. 

At the honorary ceremony in Accra, the Ga Mantse said that the young doctor has become a role model to his peers and the Ga- Dangme youth.

“You are an example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. We see great potential in you and we believe you will accomplish great things,” he noted.

Source: Ghana/Sompaonline.com/Nana Yaw Boamah