CULTURAL NEWS
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Ahantas celebrate Kundum
From: CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, Buisua
THE people of Ahanta in the Western Region on Monday held a durbar here to climax this year’s Kundum festival in the area.
The event also formed part of the anniversary celebration of the Omanhene of the Ahanta Traditional Area, Otumfuo Baidoe Bonsoe XV.
Otumfuo was enstooled on May, 6, 1967 at the age of 18, when he was in his third year at the Half Assini Secondary School.
He is the President of the Ahanta Traditional Council, with headquarters at Busua.
He has 17 divisional chiefs and 123 communities under his paramountcy.
Originally, the Ahantahene’s jurisdiction extended from the Pra River to the Ankobra River.
Kundum- meaning “eat to satiate yourself”, has been celebrated for over 200 years now to commemorate a successful maize harvest in Ahanta land.
Addressing the durbar which was attended by chiefs and people of Butre, Busua, Kwesimintsim, Shama and Apowa, Otumfuo Bonsoe said, “Today’s gathering also signifies a turning point in the fortune of the Ahanta people.”
He said the history of Ahanta was replete with greatness and industry which the colonialists fought hard to disintegrate.
“Today, my ancestors will be nodding in agreement with me as I pronounce a wake-up call on the Ahanta people to rise up and be counted among the important tribes of Ghana,” he said.
The Kundum festival, he said, was an undying unifying force that had kept the people together through turbulent years.
Otumfuo Bonsoe asked the people to unite towards the area’s development.
*Source:
The Ghanaian Times - Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Page: 17 |