Revive Abandoned Festivals to Drive Local Development and Get Single Ladies Suitable Partners — Simiw Chief Charges Fellow Traditional Leaders

The Chief of Simiw in the Edina Traditional Area in the Central Region, Nana Kwamina Nguando IV, has called on fellow traditional leaders to revive abandoned traditional festivals once celebrated by forefathers to promote local development, preserve cultural heritage and create opportunities for social and economic interaction.

He said festivals should not be regarded merely as annual cultural celebrations but as platforms that could mobilise development resources, attract visitors, promote local businesses and strengthen relationships among community members.

Nana Nguando IV also highlighted the social benefits of such gatherings, suggesting that reviving abandoned festivals could provide opportunities for single men and women to meet, interact and potentially find suitable life partners.

The chief made the call at the launch of the 2026 Simiw Enyankor festival, dubbed, "Celebrating our Heritage, Promoting Unity and Accelerating Sustainable Development," while stressing the need for traditional authorities to explore innovative ways of making festivals relevant to contemporary society without losing their cultural identity.

He explained that festivals bring together indigenes living both within and outside their traditional communities, creating opportunities for chiefs and development committees to mobilise support for projects.

Such gatherings, he said, could generate resources for educational facilities, healthcare, roads, sanitation, water and other essential community infrastructure.

He therefore urged traditional leaders to revive festivals that had been abandoned and use them as platforms to reconnect their people with their ancestral roots while pursuing practical development initiatives.

At the program was the National Democratic Congress (NDC) KEEA Constituency Chairman, Mr. John Quaicoe, sounded the alarm to the gathering, particularly to the youths about rampant infections of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV and AIDS in the constituency.

He appealed to guardians to advise their wards to abstain from sex to kettle the spreading of such deadly disease for the general good of the constituency.

Sompaonline.com// Eric Annan