Haatso celebrates Homowo festival

The Chiefs and people of Haatso, near Madina in Accra on Saturday, celebrated their annual Homowo festival amidst fun-fair and the sprinkling of ‘Kpokpoi’, the traditional food of the Gas.

Clad in red, the chiefs and some elders took turns to sprinkle the food and poured libation at sacred places and homes.

The festival, which was celebrated peacefully, attracted a large number of Gas and other tribes.

Nii Amarh Sogbla IV, Haatso Manste addressing the gathering, called for a united front to accelerate the development of the area.

He asked them to use the occasion to forge ahead in unity by burying their differences in order to seek the development of the area.

Nii Sogbla appealed to the Ga Traditional Council to erect a monument at Katamanso where the celebration of the Homowo festival started.

He also appealed to chiefs to do away with chieftaincy disputes to ensure the rapid development of their areas.

Nii Sogbla also urged the government to help them to fight the issue of land guards which had become the order of the day in the community.

Homowo recounts the migration of the Gas and reveals their agricultural success in their new settlement.

The Ga oral tradition says a severe famine broke out among the people during their migration to present day Accra.

They were inspired by the famine to embark on massive food production exercises which eventually yielded bumper harvests.

Their hunger ended and with great joy, they ‘hooted at hunger‘, hence the annual celebration.