Make Ghanaian fabrics compulsory for state functions – NCC boss

The Executive Director of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Janet Edna Nyame, has called on the legislature to pass a law to ensure Ghanaian fabrics are worn at all state and international functions.

This according to her will help promote national identity and encourage patronage of local fabrics.

Speaking at the launch of the 2021 Wear Ghana Festival, Madam Nyame urged all Ghanaians to patronize the colorful local fabrics, adding that she would be grateful if a law was passed to ensure that Ghanaian fabrics, such as the Smock, Kente, GTP, Woodin, the batik tie & dye were worn at all state and international functions just to promote Ghanaian culture and identity.

The Wear Ghana initiative is part of the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture’s string of activities to promote Ghana, which includes; See Ghana, Feel Ghana, and Eat Ghana, instituted four years ago.

The Commission took the Wear Ghana aspect to promote Ghanaian clothing through the festive celebration of it by fashion shows every year. This is also aimed at unearthing the talents of young ones and also create employment for the youth who were into fashion and dressmaking.

Madam Nyame said designers for this year’s celebration were to use our local fabrics to design various outfits that can be worn both locally and at any international program outside Ghana for the international communities to appreciate what Ghana had.

Madam Nyame said this year’s fashion show was not going to be a one-day event but a whole month where various designers would display their designs with their models cat-walking on the various social media handles of the Commission.

Prof Fredrick Owusu Nyarko, Ambassador for Culture Ghana and beyond, said they would be visiting institutions to take photographs of individuals who were wearing local prints.

He said these pictures would be put into the Commission’s social media handles for people to vote and that those that emerged winners would have media exposure to encourage more people to wear made-in Ghana products.

Professor Nyarko said they intended to engage the media, especially radio and television stations to propagate the wear Ghana message to enable more Ghanaians to buy more into it.

The festival will take place virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic with activities such as virtual online Fashion shows, Spoken word shows, teaching the appropriate way of wearing men’s cloth, and media interviews with key stakeholders.