AKUAPEM ODWIRA FESTIVAL
Group Report
Introduction
Our
sincere gratitude goes to His Excellency Mr. Amoh Bediako for whom without the
feeling expressed by people about the Odwira festival would have been a
distance reality.
The
Akuapem Odwira festival was initiated by the 19th Okuapemhene of
Akropong , Nana Addo Dankwa I (1811 – 1835) and was first celebrated in October
1826.
Importance
It
significance is to celebrate their victory over the invisible Asante army
during the historic battle of Katamanso near Dodowaand 1826 and also to cleanse
themselves and ask for protection from their gods.
The
Odwira festival which is a week-long series of traditions and rituals performed
to purify the town, the people and most importantly the ancestral stool of the
chiefs, is a festival which is loved by all and witnessed by many.
Group
The group arrived on the fifth day of
the celebration which is the climax of the Odwira festival to witness the grand
durbar. The group, sharply dressed in uniform attire alighted at Aboa offei a
suburb of Akropong at exactly 8:30 am before the schedule time. The group was
offered a mat on a beautiful lawn under a palm plantation (Abenase) by His
Excellency Mr. John Amo Bediako where we prayed and exchanged pleasantries with
other groups.
Speech
The group further went to the house of
Aboa offei where a speech was delivered about the youth changing the lives of
Africans and a woman being a great leader in the next ten (10) years. He
encouraged and motivated us that we should change Ghana through creativity and
innovation with divine spiritual power. He made reference to the Japanese
having hundred procedures to move an arrow and how it has helped their nation.
Festival
Durbar
The
group got to Akropong at the time the
chiefs were being “air borne” in a palanquin, by their attendant, dancing and
bouncing in the air whilst there is drumming and singing going on, on the
packed street. The Okuapimhene Nana Addo Danquah III and the queenmother were
in their full regalia with lot of gold ornament displayed on their heads,
necks, wrists and fingures. After a couple of hours being “air borne” the chief
was sent to the durbar ground to be seated. More drumming, dancing and rituals
were performed each signifying a past event.
Conclusion
The group witnessed that aside the
spiritual, cultural and social aspect of the Odwira festival, it has also
become the platform for development of the various entrepreneurial skills of
the people of the Akuapim and the country as a whole.
Thank You.
ABDUL-WAHAB
MUBARIK
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