Youths Bare Teeth At Chiefs

File Photo

In recent Facebook posts by multiple concerned citizens of Saltpond and Nkusukum, sighted by Shyn Media Gh (@shynmediagh), the youths of the Nkusukum Traditional Area are livid and worked up over the decision by their Chiefs to change the date of their annual Odambea festival. The festival, traditionally celebrated on the last Saturday of August, commemorates their migration from Techiman to their present-day settlement.

The irate youths are baffled by the Chiefs’ decision to move the festival from August to October, based on the explanation that government officials often fail to attend the festival or arrive late due to attending the Abeadze Traditional Area festival on the same weekend.

Expressing their disappointment with this move, they are demanding that the chiefs revert the festival date to its original schedule. They believe that the lack of publicity, youth consultation, and involvement in the organisation are contributing factors to the perceived neglect by government officials.

This uproar arises because, the new date does not align with ancestral and traditional considerations, potentially diluting the festival’s traditional essence and leading to lower patronage by locals and those in the diaspora.

Amidst these concerns, the youths have set 31st August, 2024 as the date to celebrate their version of the festival, pending the reversal of the official date.

By: Yusuf Ibrahim Dadzie