Jama Music Gala for Ga Mashie

Jama music is one of the indigenous forms of music in Accra. It’s in that regard that Bentsifi, Accra Convention and Visitors Bureau Company in collaboration with the Ghana Denmark Cultural fund is to roll out an event dubbed the Bukum Jama Gala.

The organizer of the event, Paa John Dadson in an interview with Hitz FM that the aim of the event is to create an opportunity for traditional Jama groups in the Ga Mashie area to showcase their talent.

It is also to provide them a forum to spar in a fortnightly entertainment show for the people of the area. The Jama competition is also to bring some deserved Cultural and economic revival in the community.

The idea is to have a Brass Band and Parade from the Quodesh Light House Chapel in Korle Gonno to the Bukom Square where the Jama competition will take place. A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the cheers, songs and other technicalities each month. The best group to win every month will get the opportunity to compete with a group the following month until the ultimate winner is declared Jama Champions of Accra in April 2011. Paa John the Event Organiser noted that the Jama Gala will run for a period of eight to ten months where every month they will have a Jama session at Bukom. He added that since the people in the community do not go fishing on Tuesdays, that will best suit the event and also create an opportunity for the men in the area to participate in the competition.

The Jama Gala is expected to be a fun time and to also bring together the people in the community. It is also to revive cultural activities within the Ga Mashie area using music, dance and cheering.

The series of events will climax in a big Jama festival next year and the idea is to bring the community together to do what they like doing and to also demystify the idea that people in the Ga Mashie area are hooligans and boisterous. The first edition of the event takes place on September 20th and climaxes in April. The Jama Gala will be funded by the Ghana Denmark Cultural fund.