The 2023 Oguaa Fetu Afahye, an annual celebration of Cape Coast‘s chiefs and people, has been launched by the Oguaa Traditional Council.
This year’s festival is on the theme: “Celebrating our Educational Institutions for the Enhancement of Ghana.”
There were cultural performances from the seven Asafo companies and many other cultural troupes during the launch.
The Oguaa Fetu Afahye is celebrated on the first Saturday of September by the people of Oguaa, the former capital of Ghana.
Launching the festival, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen (Paramount Chief) of Oguaa Traditional Area, called on parents and guardians to create security and a better future for themselves and their families by investing in the education of their children and wards.
To him, quality education did not depend solely on the output of teachers, but also on the support of parents to enhance teaching and learning.
He lamented the situation where many pupils in Junior High Schools in the area do not get admission to the array of first-class schools due to poor performance.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta called on corporate bodies and philanthropists to support the festival and urged his people to obey the customs and practices and keep their surroundings clean.
Chairman of the Afahye Planning Committee, Mr. Perry Mensah said the festival had become a conduit for reviving and redeveloping the once socio-economically vibrant and culturally rich metropolis.
Mr. Mensah was optimistic that the celebration would live up to its expectations, having lined up a series of activities to ensure that Cape Coast took its rightful place in Ghanaian Society.
The activities would include a vigil at Bakado, the beach, which would also host a regatta for the Asafo companies, a youth colloquium, and children and gender activism day.
He reminded all residents to religiously obey the ban on drumming and noisemaking, particularly religious organizations, to ensure peace.
The ban affects noise making, including the use of loudspeakers, drums, tambourines, clapping of hands and the use of any form of musical instruments during the period.
During the period, the Oguaa Traditional Council would pray for the country and the citizens to continue to keep the flame of peace, love, tranquility, and good brotherliness.
“We also entreat all persons in Oguaa to comply with the ban on drumming and noise making and refrain from making derogatory remarks about the rites, customs, practices, and beliefs of the people,” the Chairman of the Afahye Planning Committee cautioned.
Mr. Mensah urged residents to work together towards keeping the metropolis clean and healthy by participating in the monthly clean-up exercise.
He said residents could, on their own, get together to clean their immediate environs without necessarily waiting on the community leaders to organize a clean-up and urged the media to project the festival and all its related activities.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Prof Eric Nyarko-Sampson, urged old students to endeavour to support their former schools to facilitate academic work.
Prof Nyarko-Sampson who chaired the function, said people needed to give back to schools and communities which mentored them to become what they were today.