Kpokpoi’ and red everywhere as residence of Akamajin community in James Town parade themselves and their chiefs on the streets to hoot at hunger on Saturday August 14 2021.
After a long ban on noise making, sowing of maize (nmaa dumo) the coastal areas in the capital of Ghana celebrated the biggest traditional festival in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The young, adult, aged, disabled and even foreigners both white and black adorned themselves in red as they hit on the streets with their leaders.
In an exclusive interview with TIAST Group, Nii Kojo Akutuwe the secretary and treasurer of Adanse Kotoko in James Town disclosed, “August is the time the maize comes out, in other months it doesn’t come fresh but in August it does and that is why we have the homowo calendar which is the time we grow the maize, the tomatoes and everything comes fresh and that is why we choose August.’
Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the GAS. It is celebrated in the month of August with the planting of crops especially maize and yam before the rainy season starts. The people celebrate this in remembrance of the historical famine that occurred in the pre-colonial Ghana. This season is marked with joy and merry making; the people dance the kpanlogo dance to their traditional songs.
“Homowo means from the place we came from to Accra, we were starved and hungry until we got maize to plant and now we are okay, no hunger again and that is why we sprinkle the kpokpoi around to signify that we even have leftover food,” Nii Kojo Akutuwe said.
He added that “the ancestors and the ghosts, those who have died come to walk on it on the street.”
This season of the homowo in Akamajin community in James Town saw a massive celebration. It began with the putting up of canopies in public spheres and the playing of traditional songs. The residence of Akamajin was seen in saloons beautifying themselves for the occasion. Not long after 1 pm, they started coming from their houses adorned in their red clothing, in their shades and African foot wears. Some then gathered on the compound of the palace waiting for Nii Ayikai Ill the Akanmajen Mentse to set into motion the occasion.
On the compound of the palace were three pots and earthen wares arranged in a sequential order. They were filled with palm nut soup with different types of fishes and in them was “Kpokpoi”, their traditional food which is made of maize.
The Chief was welcomed with a crowd of foreigners, reporters, photographers and the people of the community. He then poured libation and served the kpokpoi from several earthen wares into a bigger earthen ware. After mixing the kpokpoi from the earthen wares, he poured palm nut soup from each of the three pots unto the kpokpoi in an orderly manner. The earthen ware having the mixture of the kpokpoi and the palm nut soup was made to touch the ground three times within short intervals.
Nii Ayikai Ill together with few known people and the one holding the earthen ware sprinkled the Kpokpoi in the palace. They repeated the same act on the streets. Prior to that, there were gunshots, drinking and merry making everywhere.
Nii Kojo Akutuwe further revealed that “you can follow the chief and eat the Kpokpoi but a lot of people do not want that because of their religious beliefs.
He added that “after we sprinkle the kpokpoi, what follows is merry making and the next day as early as 6 o’clock you go to every house and greet them and wish them happy new year and that more blessings should come on them so that everybody will say you are blessed for the new year, and on the third day only the Ngleshie people will celebrate the Odwira festival.”
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