The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III received a rousing welcome when he made a triumphant entry into the premises of Mantse Agbonaa over the weekend to honour this year�s �Ogbooli�.
King Tackie Tawiah III revealed that neither his Kingdom nor the Ga State was at war with anybody and bluntly condemned the recent interference by the National Security apparatus to halt traditional rites of this year�s Homowo festival, stressing �government should stop meddling in the traditions of the our people.�
At the durbar of Chiefs and people of the James-Town Traditional Area, The Ga Mantse confirmed that they had asked government to leave them alone in order to perform their customary duties.The occasion was to thank the ancestors for their protection and giving them also a bumper harvest and brought together the young and old as well as those from far and near while rich Ga culture was highly displayed amid pomp and pageantry. King Tackie said: �We have no qualms with anybody, but government should endeavour to partner us to develop our communities.�
He however called for advice from all and sundry to make his tenure a prosperous one and to maintain the existing peace among the people. On his part, Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio V, James Town Mantse advised King Tackie III not to harbour any ill-feelings towards anybody and to see current happenings as a challenge. He however lamented over politicians� interference with Ga traditions, noting �Ga is destroyed; we have never seen such situations as politicians teaching us how to celebrate the Homowo festival.
Nii Ababio V further urged the Ga Traditional Council to thoroughly investigate the issue at hand and to ensure that it never occurred again. Meanwhile, the people of James Town did not hold their annual durbar because of the death of the Chief Priest, Na Wulomo, noting �we could not have fun during that period because of our respect for the Priest; this year�s celebrations would bring us together again.� The James Town Mantse further stressed that the only way to unite the people was solve all the conflict through dialogue and arbitration.
�Anything short of this would leave us where we are; a position which sometimes sets us up for ridicule in the eyes of all,� he reiterated. He explained that the perpetual conflicts among the people had led to the neglect by state officials, noting �we were left out of the programmes during the US President Barack Obama�s recent visit to the country,
Nii Ababio V called on government to help resuscitate the area by providing employment to the teeming youth and to establish educational facilities for the illiterates and school drop outs. He also appealed to President John Evans Atta Mills to give the necessary attention to the construction of the fishing harbour, adding that it would go a long way to ease the unemployment predicaments in the area.
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