Basic HTML Version
www.ebizguides.com
16
General Information
Traditional chief in Greater Accra
Prempeh 1 & a Queenmother (Ashanti)
Festivals in Ghana have many ramifications – social,
economic, religious, cultural as well as political. Ba-
sically, festivals are held to express appreciation to
the deity for a good harvest and a successful year.
Festivals also provide occasions for reflections and
enjoyment; and they pervade almost all the tradition-
al areas of Ghana. Some festivals are held to cel-
ebrate landmarks of tribal history – such as when the
people came upon an adequate and reliable supply
of water, a battle conquest, a retreat or a migration.
Throughout Ghana practically every town and village
comes alive with excitement at festival time. This is
the proverbial hospitality of the Ghanaian at its best;
visitors are often welcomed into homes to share
drinks and meals and are given traditional clothes to
join in the street celebrations. Parades take place to
the sound of drums and traditional horns.
In Ghana, like most of the rest of Africa, there are
no formalised funeral services. Burial of a the de-
ceased in animist, Moslem and Christian traditions
is closely associated with ancestor worship and is
the single most important community activity, taking
place every Fridays and Saturdays. It is the ultimate
manifestation of deep-rooted tradition. Among the
Ga community, the dominant ethnic group in the
region surrounding the capital Accra, a coffin mak-
ing art has been developed over the last decades. It
started in the 50’s with Mr. Kane Kwei, a carpenter
who manufactured coffins in a variety of shapes (i.e.
onions, lions, fishes) for all the burials in the Ga com-
munity. To this day, coffins continue to be made in
a shape that would better represent the deceased.
Death is constantly present in Gas’ life, and in that
sense, no one is allowed to eat or drink without first
making offerings to their ancestors. Reincarnation
within the family being among the beliefs of Gas,
sterility is perceived as the ultimate misfortune as it
disrupts the process.
LANGUAGES
As an ex British colony, Ghana’s official language is
English, but at least 75 African languages and dia-
lects are spoken by the Ghanaian population. Most
people belong to one of the Akan groups, or in other
words, practically everybody in southern and central
Ghana, and speak Twi as a first or second language.
Other important ethnic and language groups are the
Mole-Dagbani, Ewe, Ga, Gur and Kwa. They tend
to have close affinities to some of the ethnic groups
in the neighbouring countries: Such as the Gur with
Burkina Faso and Mali, the Volta-Bandama Comoe
with Ivory Coast and the Kwa with Togo. This strong-
ly suggests that the probable historical migration of
Ghanaian ethnic groups has been local.