MO: 2018 Degaland Yam festival slated for October 19

The Degaland Association which hitherto was the Mo Youth Association has been formed to play a pivotal role in the transformational agenda of the Dega people including fostering unity amongst the three (3) paramountcy namely North Mo Traditional Council, Mo Traditional Council and Branam Traditional Council.

Its against this background that the Degaland Association is collaborating with the leadership of the three Traditional Council namely; Nnaa Kwaku Dapaah II, President of North Mo Traditional Council Nnaa Abobrim Yaw Dompo II, President of Mo Traditional Council and Nnaa Kwaku Bediako II, President of the Branam Traditional Council with tacit support from the Jama Kooro Nnaa Kojo Pambo II are inviting all and sundry to the first ever National “Pedia” Festival at Bamboi on the 19th of October, 2018.

Hitherto, each Deg community independently celebrates the “Pedia” Festival. Its a festivity which is annually used to usher in the new Yam season.

On the Map of Ghana, the Dega people are predominantly located in four Municipal/District namely; Kintampo Municipal,Kintampo South District, Wenchi Municipal and Bole – Bamboi District.

Dega are surrounded on the North by the Gonjas, Nafana on the West and Bono in the South.

The Mo call themselves Dega which literary means multiplying, spreading quickly or fertility and for that matter can be found almost everywhere in Ghana and the world as a whole.
The Dega who reside in the Kintampo area are commonly referred to as the “Longoro Dega” with prominent communities such as Old Longoro, New Longoro, Manchala, Sogloboi, Gbere, Busuama, Ntariban and Baniantwe.


Communities in Kintampo South are Soora, Chaara, Sabule, Mansie and Mo-Nkwanta and the people commonly referred to as “Dega Mangoma”.


North Mo has communities like Jogboi, Bamboi, Jama, Carpenter and Chibrenjoa which are in the Bole – Bamboi district. Wenchi Municipal covers those in Branam and its surrounding communities.

The Degaland Association which is an International Association has members in countries such as Australia, The US and Canada, Republic of Ireland and UK, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Malta, Libya etc and the three traditional areas are anticipating a well-attended event with a lot if high profile personalities invited to grace the occasion.

The theme for the Festival is ” Employing “Pedia” Festival To Enhance Peaceful Coexistence For National Development ”

Events during the festivity include but not limited to;

(1) health screening such as Cervical Cancer, Breast Cancer and Hepatitis B

(2) inter community football competition

(3) traditional dance competition such as “Wodie” , ” Songo ” and “Kpaana” .

(4) “Moola” competition

The Mo Traditional Council can boast of powerful Paramount Chiefs such as Nnaa Kooro Yaw Dagbi, Nnaa Kwasi Addai and Nnaa Kwaku Dimpo who ruled for 50 years before his death in 1999. It will be recalled that Nnaa Kwaku Dimpo’s body caused a lot of havoc for mortuary attendance at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital Morgue. Again, GTV ‘s seasoned journalist Peggy Ama Donkor reported on the plight of Nnaa Kwaku Dimpo’s three (3) widows who were kept indoors for eight (8) years without bathing, half naked amidst Dega widowhood custom which culminated in government intervention and paved way for the burial and the freedom of the widows in 2006/2007.