By Richard Attenkah
The chiefs and people of Tema and its surrounding villages, last Saturday celebrated this year’s annual Homowo festival with drumming, dancing and the performing of traditional rituals that usually come with the sprinkling of Kpokpoi, incantations and pouring of libation.
Hundreds of natives of the town, especially those domiciled beyond the Greater Accra Region and abroad, joined their relatives and traditional rulers to celebrate the festival in a grand style.
For the first time in many years, the Paramount Chief of the Tema Traditional area, Nii Osongaa Adjei Kraku II, rode in his palanquin through the principal streets of Tema Manhean, receiving cheers and accolades from his subjects.
As part of the rituals, the sub-chiefs under the Tema Traditional Council, fetish priests and priestesses, other high ranking traditional office holders, and subjects of the area joined the Paramount Chief and his elders to perform the rituals.
Nii Adjei Kraku II, together with his entourage, visited all the clan houses throughout the kingdom to perform the sacred rituals, after which they converged at the palace of the Paramount Chief for him to address them.
Addressing the gathering, the overlord of Tema called on his subjects to make the education of their children their topmost priority, because the time had come for the youth in the area to prepare themselves for the economic fortunes ahead of them.
The Paramount Chief of Tema called on his subjects to organise themselves adequately for the challenges in the coming years, by equipping themselves in terms of academic and professional training, as well as technical and artisanal preparations.
He thanked members of the National House of Chiefs, Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, and all those who contributed one way or the other in ensuring that the local traditional areas which were stripped of their paramountcies during the days of Col. Ankrah, former head of state of Ghana, were restored to their former glory.
According to him, the elevation of most of the traditional areas to paramountcies would help to reduce the many conflicts in the region, because then traditional rulers would have the opportunity to seek redress to issues that affect them in their various traditional councils.
Representatives of chiefs from towns and villages under the Tema Traditional Area and the fisher-folks took turns to address the teeming crowd at the palace of Nii Adjei Kraku II.
Nii Ashittey Saasaabi, Chief of Saasaabi, a village in the Tema Traditional area, who spoke on behalf of the chiefs from the towns and villages under Tema, called on natives of Tema to unite their front, now that Tema had been elevated to paramount status.
He said they should all come together as a people to think about how to bring development to their people, not only for themselves, but also for posterity.
Nii Ashittey Saasaabi reiterated the call of the Tema Mantse on the people of Tema to ensure that they invest heavily in the education of their wards, so as to equip the youth, who are the future leaders, to face the challenges of the future.
On his part, the Chief Fisherman in charge of Tema Ashamang, Nii Adjierteh Mattor III, hinted that fishermen in the area were doing their very best to ensure that their people saw some improvement.
Consequently, Nii Adjierteh III explained that they (the fishermen) had contributed about GH¢150,000 towards the construction of a hostel for the only public second cycle institution in the town.
He appealed to the government to endeavour to come to the aid of the town and develop the infrastructural needs of schools in the area, to ensure quality education for their children.