GRi Arts & Culture 07 – 04 - 2003
Sekondi (Western Region)
The 10-day festival is under the
theme: "Culture, Development and Ghanaian Identity". The chiefs, who
were dressed in rich kente cloths, velvet, smocks and
flowing gowns and adorned with gold ornaments and expensive beads around their
necks, elbows, wrists and ankles, they walked gorgeously from the Western
Regional House of Chiefs through the principal streets of Sekondi
to the durbar grounds.
The
The official opening of the
festival that would portray the rich cultural heritage of
This was due to another official
assignment of President John Agyekum Kufuor, who attended the burial service,
burial and final funeral rites of Emmanuel Acheampong, former Member of Parliament
for Gomoa East who died in a motor accident this
year. The burial service was held at Gomoa Nyayano and the burial took place at at
Gomoa Fetteh.
GRi.../
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Sekondi (Western Region) 07 April 2003-
President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday, urged Ghanaians to examine all
aspects of their culture and try to make the best of what they find valuable
and useful.
"We must be confident
enough to discard, adapt and borrow from each other as well as from new
influences beyond
The 10-day festival under the
theme "Culture, Development and Ghanaian Identity," opened with a
grand durbar of chiefs and people from all the country's 10 regions. President
Kufuor, however, warned Ghanaians against copying blindly or to equate
modernization with everything Western and foreign on the television.
To avoid this trap, he said it
was necessary to demystify elements of Ghanaian culture and undertake
systematic and thorough research of the origins and evolution of some
particular aspects of the Ghanaian culture.
"The core values that
underlie our beliefs must be constantly examined and amended or reinforced to
give the citizens the necessary confidence in our identity," he added. President
Kufuor said research results must be presented in plain comprehensive language,
adding that, "we should then present to the people especially the youth,
element of the Ghanaian culture, which are proven to be worth retaining in all
its diversity as tasteful and attractively as possible."
"For example the festivals,
rights of passage, cuisine, codes of etiquette, must be passed on to the young,
both in the home setting and school, through the media especially television,
the President added.
President Kufuor urged chiefs as
custodians and repository of the Ghanaian culture and knowledge must lead the
way, saying, the underlying principle of the culture of Ghanaians should be
tolerance in diversity and noted that inter-marriages between persons of different
ethnic origins had promoted mutual respect for diverse practices and beliefs.
"We should build on the
unity and solidarity that comes from these contacts instead of the current
divisive tendencies that seek to explain every awkward occurrence in terms of
tribal allegiance," the President said.
"I did not say that we
should only stick to what our forefathers did or only speak our own languages
but we must be firmly hooked on to the globalised
world by being able to speak foreign languages and being computer literate,"
he added.
President Kufuor said given its
centrality to our very existence, government was determined to give all the support
it could to enhance the awareness of culture in all sectors. In this regard, he
said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had been directed to squeeze
some resources to enable a systematic programme be put in place to complete all
the unfinished Regional Cultural Centre structures all over the country including
the Sekondi one.
President Kufuor congratulated
the chiefs for their co-operation and prayed that the spirit of NAFAC would
integrate the nation's diverse culture to project the country's unity and
sovereignty as a peaceful nation.
Professor George P. Hagan,
Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC) said the Commission was
determined to make culture more exciting and significant to the socio-economic
development of the country.
He said in line with this
determination, the Commission had placed before Cabinet for approval a draft
cultural policy that sought to direct the country's creative and cultural
endeavours. Professor Hagan said, "We desire to draw out the positive
potentials of our culture."
He said the Centre for National
Culture (CNC), which operates in almost every district, had the mandate to
promote indigenous skills, crafts and knowledge to focus attention on
development. Professor Hagan said the Commission was seeking the assistance of
the various district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to enhance the capacity
of the various crafts training schools that were teaching weaving, textiles,
wood, clay, metal and leather skills to the youth.
He said the Commission was also
seeking the attention of the country's technological experts to take up the challenge
of developing industries based on indigenous knowledge. Professor Hagan said
the Commission and its 21 agencies were also engaged in programmes to preserve
the tangible and subtle heritage of the country.
In this direction, he said the
Commission was seeking to facilitate the preservation of rare artefacts,
heritage sites, sacred groves, water bodies and land features in collaboration
with the various assemblies and traditional councils.
Professor Hagan asked the state to
preserve and promote the country's heritage for the benefit of future generations
adding that with the development of rare heritage, the country would open up
for tourism and economic development.
He said the Commission would
soon host a series of workshops for the district assemblies and chiefs to
enhance their capacity in developing their potentials in this area. Nana Kobina Nketia V, Chairman of the
National Planning Committee said it was the first time that the various ethnic
groups and chiefs in the Western Region had been brought together for a
festival.
He appealed to the chiefs and
the various ethnic groups to let the spirit of oneness displayed at the NAFAC
unite them and ensure a mutual co-existence. Nana Nketia
noted that the festival had revealed the hidden cultural potential and talents
in the region and called on others whose beliefs and practices were not popular
to showcase them in future festivals.
Joseph Boahene
Baidoo, Western Regional Minister noted that the
theme for the festival was appropriate, especially in view of the moral and ethical
degeneration confronting society today.
He expressed gratitude to the
government for bringing the Regional Theatre to near completion and expressed
the hope that the government would help complete it. Odeneho
Gyapong Ababio the Second,
President of the National House of Chiefs urged Ghanaians to revive and promote
positive cultural practices and values to enhance the country's tourism
potentials. Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, diplomats, Chief
Executives, heads of the religious bodies and high-ranking government
officials, also attended the opening ceremony.
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