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• pepi 11 years ago

  please dont play into the hands of the yen akanfo . the ewes call it KETE NOT kente

  please dont play into the hands of the yen akanfo . the ewes call it KETE NOT kente

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• Kweku 11 years ago

  Yes, the tribalists will be at it again... Even if there should be no tribalism in this. Perhaps the writer may not even come from the area...

  Yes, the tribalists will be at it again... Even if there should be no tribalism in this. Perhaps the writer may not even come from the area...

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• Joe Mensah, USA 11 years ago

  can anyone provide historical evidence as to where the kente cloth originated.

  can anyone provide historical evidence as to where the kente cloth originated.

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• Tiffiny Ablorh 11 years ago

  How come ewes are celebrating "kente"?. What they call kente is nothing more than a piece of shit! Go and celebrate trokosi.

  How come ewes are celebrating "kente"?. What they call kente is nothing more than a piece of shit! Go and celebrate trokosi.

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• Kojo T 11 years ago

  How do we connect Kete to trokosi as if we can connect Bonwire with Antoa Nyame . You lack logic

  How do we connect Kete to trokosi as if we can connect Bonwire with Antoa Nyame . You lack logic

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• Kwesi Twum. 11 years ago

  Okomfo Anokye and Osei Tutu 1 wore clothes and skirts made out of straw and leaf and the bark of a tree. How could the Asante assume the authentication of the originality of the Kent(Akan) or Kete(Ewe)?

  Okomfo Anokye and Osei Tutu 1 wore clothes and skirts made out of straw and leaf and the bark of a tree. How could the Asante assume the authentication of the originality of the Kent(Akan) or Kete(Ewe)?

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• Mozato 11 years ago

  From Akan Name stealing to Asante Bonwire Kente imitation. Ghanaians are satisfied with, and prefer the prestigious Asante Bonwire Kente with excellent touch to the gloomy Trokosi imitated kente doped with that smelly voodoo ...
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  From Akan Name stealing to Asante Bonwire Kente imitation. Ghanaians are satisfied with, and prefer the prestigious Asante Bonwire Kente with excellent touch to the gloomy Trokosi imitated kente doped with that smelly voodoo incense. You will be better off to take this TROKOFEST offshore Ghana to Togo.

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• Kojo T 11 years ago

  You guys boast of private enterprise and want a federation. Some want devolution so Local areas can race funds for development . To my mind tis is a step in the right direction , by taking some of the load off central Govt . ...
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  You guys boast of private enterprise and want a federation. Some want devolution so Local areas can race funds for development . To my mind tis is a step in the right direction , by taking some of the load off central Govt . We should encourage such endeavors instead of pooh pooing them . Mozato, you should be ashamed of yourself

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• Joe Mensah, USA 11 years ago

  I love the colors of the ewe kente. Much as i like the famous bright kenke, it is too bright for me.

  I love the colors of the ewe kente. Much as i like the famous bright kenke, it is too bright for me.

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• Man 11 years ago

  It shows from your neanderthal reasoning. When will some of you develop into full humans?

  It shows from your neanderthal reasoning. When will some of you develop into full humans?

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• The Tourist 11 years ago

  The why I must be at this year's event is not answered in the write up. It appears there is nothing new in the celebration and the writer failed in convincing me to attend this year's event.

  The why I must be at this year's event is not answered in the write up. It appears there is nothing new in the celebration and the writer failed in convincing me to attend this year's event.

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• G. K. Berko 11 years ago

  Thanks for letting us know of this event in the Volta Region of Ghana. We must all help patronize it to great success.
  
  I think it is complimentary to share in the honor that Kente bears in our collective Culture. But plea ...
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  Thanks for letting us know of this event in the Volta Region of Ghana. We must all help patronize it to great success.
  
  I think it is complimentary to share in the honor that Kente bears in our collective Culture. But please, do not claim the credit of its birth to Agortime Kpetoe. That distorts our Nation's history. Your statement as follows, for example, is a little murky in purpose:
  
  "It is also to promote the tourism value of Agortime Kpetoe as the foremost town of original Kente fabric, among others."
  
  Many inventions around the World might have originated somewhere but made more popular to the rest of the World by some other location. That is fine. We know, for instance, how Television and Automobile were original USA inventions but other Nations like Japan came to earn credit of making them better.
  
  In the case of Kente, Bonwire in Ashanti and its environs have a longer history with the product, and might even still retain the quality excellence bar none. Agortime Kpetoe could only claim a certain 'model' or brand of Kente but not the origins of it. I wish the organizers of the said event would explicitly mention Bonwire's significance in the history of the product, now being popularized under their auspices. Such bold recognition of shared products and cultural activities develops mutual trust and respect.
  
  For the proper Education of our Tourists to have correct information on the product to carry back home, it is only wise to keep the records straight. We must give credit where due, and not try to muffled up History for any convenience.
  
  Long Live Ghana!!!

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• Lo 11 years ago

  Asantes or bomwires are not the originators of kete in Ghana. Check your facts.

  Asantes or bomwires are not the originators of kete in Ghana. Check your facts.

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• Joe Mensah, USA 11 years ago

  Do u have any evidence that Bonwire originated kente weaving?

  Do u have any evidence that Bonwire originated kente weaving?

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• G. K. Berko 11 years ago

  Joe Mensah, since when did your ancestors begin recording evidence of their existence?
  
  I would rather you consider the following, though. I did not claim the origins of Kente to Bonwire in my piece but rather raised nece ...
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  Joe Mensah, since when did your ancestors begin recording evidence of their existence?
  
  I would rather you consider the following, though. I did not claim the origins of Kente to Bonwire in my piece but rather raised necessary suspicions on the claim implied in the Article. Then, also, I would like to say that if one does not have a receipt in hand for something one had purchased, it does not necessarily mean one does not own it.
  
  I could ask the same question of you to show the evidence that Kente originated in Agortime Kpetoe. But that was not the key purpose for my piece. I acknowledge the unwritten historical facts and legends passed on from our various roots to younger generations. But I dislike distorted facts to modify history or invent a perceived prestige or undermine other's.
  
  Oh, I am not discouraging anyone you to celebrate the Kente Festival, even it was not invented by your folks. I indicated that in my piece, too, that we should celebrate such an event. But I would not use that occasion to spread falsehoods.
  
  Long Live Ghana!!!
  Long Live Ghana!!!

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• Kweku 11 years ago

  Dearest G.K. Berko (one of the sanest minds on ghanaweb),
  
  The evidence that the Asante are the originators of kente weaving in Ghana is very much disputed. Do you have any incontrovertible evidence that Bonwire originated ...
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  Dearest G.K. Berko (one of the sanest minds on ghanaweb),
  
  The evidence that the Asante are the originators of kente weaving in Ghana is very much disputed. Do you have any incontrovertible evidence that Bonwire originated the type of kente weaving known today in Ghana?
  
  There are some historians who claim that the Asantes learnt weaving from the people of Agortime Kpetoe during their wars of conquest in the area. It does seem that the people of Agortime were weaving kente long before the Asantes started. Of course, it is in the interest of the Asantes to claim they started kente weaving by creating a myth around how some Asantes saw a spider web in the forest and copied that. There is absolutely no historical evidence of that.
  
  The claim the present writer is making may be correct even though he has to support it with more historical evidence. The claim that the Asantes started weaving is not historically supported either.

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• Bosompra Wright 11 years ago

  Ewes always want to claim things for themselves. I am a Fanti, and we also weave kente, but I know it's Ashanti invention.

  Ewes always want to claim things for themselves. I am a Fanti, and we also weave kente, but I know it's Ashanti invention.

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• Bosompra Wright 11 years ago

  ...started

  ...started

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• Kweku 11 years ago

  You said you "know".
  
  How do you "know" a thing like that?
  
  Do you have the incontrovertible evidence to prove it or are you also just buying into the myth?

  You said you "know".
  
  How do you "know" a thing like that?
  
  Do you have the incontrovertible evidence to prove it or are you also just buying into the myth?

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• G. K. Berko 11 years ago

  We should not muscle the public to accept any imitations as original. Meanwhile, I did not want to start yet another idiotic ethnic row. That is why I did not specifically claim Ashanti to be the original source of the Kente ...
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  We should not muscle the public to accept any imitations as original. Meanwhile, I did not want to start yet another idiotic ethnic row. That is why I did not specifically claim Ashanti to be the original source of the Kente Craft. All I said reflected a shock of such a Festival of Kente claiming Agortime Kpetoe for the product's origin, with no reference to where it is most predominantly manufactured and commericialized. That raised a reasonable suspicion in what the organizers are really about.
  
  Why? That is because I know emphatically that some Ewe scholars have recently been capitalizing on the absence of written or recorded evidence of certain important Cultural events and icons associated with other people, especially the Akans, to lay claim to such to undermine any historical achievement of the those groups.
  
  That trend among these scholars, I strongly believe, emanates from the ongoing subtle myopic Ewe-versus-Akan superiority contest and the rising open antagonism between the two groups.
  
  Not long ago, a well-crafted and detail script for the same purpose was Publish here on the Ghanaweb to claim Okomfo Anokye as being an Ewe but lacked the substance to affirm the claim. I thought it frivolous and designed to instigate further tensions between the two groups.
  
  As far as my personal values and beliefs go, it is all well and good if any group owns a particular credit for inventing something we all share in today. But what I vehemently dislike is the attempt to distort facts and modify history for idiotic, hollow prestige.
  
  I strongly believe the Ewes own extremely important creations and attributes and contributions to our collective Culture that ought to be highlighted and fully appreciated, even celebrated by all Ghanaians. However, when a delibrate effort is made to obliterate a long existing fact about others as a strategy to minimize their self-worth, it irks me.
  
  I would be equally disappointed and even peeved for some Ashanti loud-mouth, for example, to claim the origins of, say, Agwadja Dance, to the Ashantis, because the Dance may have recently been recognized internationally and gaining global acclaim, and because no existing recorded evidence places that Cultural iconic Dance with the Ewes.
  
  I do not think it does anyone any good to claim something long associated with another just to get even or undermine the other's confidence or self-worth. That is the basis for my argument.
  
  The fact that evidence does not exist in recorded archives do not necessarily negate the verity of an existence of something. I am not in the practice of disputing the worth of any Ethinicity. But I do recognize how frivolous claims of that nature inflames the on-going informal ethnic feud between Ewes and Akans, especially Ashantis.
  
  Nevertheless, to be fair, I do not dispute the possibility of having a long-standing notion debunked, but only with provable and reasonable evidence. Therefore, to those asking me for recorded proof that Kente originated from Ashanti, I would demand the same of them that it originated with the Ewes, or some other group. If they have any verifiable recorded evidence that Ewes are the original creators of the Kente Craft, I would be happy to accept that and celebrate that achievement with them.
  
  This argument has really excited my zeal to research deeper into many such Cultural identifying crafts and events across the Country to offer me a better chance to appreciate the contributions of all Ghanaians to our collective pride.
  
  I have an inkling of rememberance of a source that places Kente and Goldsmithing with Akans, way back into their ancestory before the divisions into their sub-groups like Ashanti, Fanti, Akuapem, Nzema, Brong, etc. So, for now, I would only admonish all those riled up by my first curious piece to lower their guns because I am more for establishing undeniable historical facts than for some flagrant, puerile prestige-claiming games, or some hollow ethnic superiority contest.
  
  Long Live Ghana!!!

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• Kwesi Twum. 11 years ago

  So you mean the Kente did not originate from Asante- Bonwere after all. Oh, our Asante friends, why do you like to 'thief, thief' here and there, everywhere thief, thief? Lack of confidence to be yourselves and what you are- ...
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  So you mean the Kente did not originate from Asante- Bonwere after all. Oh, our Asante friends, why do you like to 'thief, thief' here and there, everywhere thief, thief? Lack of confidence to be yourselves and what you are- inferiority complex? You adu Boahene wrote and told many fake and academic about the history of Gold Coast/Ghana but thank God he was challenged before his death. He tried to re-write history but he failed abysmally. Anyway, where did the lovely Kente originate from??

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