The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts is making an addition to the country’s calendar of high profile events by introducing what it has christened “Homofest 2014”.
The festival, slated for September 25th through to September 27th, 2014, is in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Greater Accra Regional Cordinating Council and the National Lotteries Authority (NLA).
According to the sector Minister, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare, the event will be an annual one to climax the celebration of the Homowo Festival of the people of Ga-Adangbe after all the various stools namely Tema, Nungua, Teshie, Osu, La, Prampram, Ningo and Ga Mashie have completed their individual celebrations.
The Minister believes it is long overdue to have one unique yearly platform to offer all Ghanaians and international tourists a rare opportunity to witness the rich culture and tradition of the Ga-Adangbe people – the landlords of the capital of the country.
The festival aims at promoting unity for national and community development, job creation and showcasing of the rich and authentic culture of the Gas to the wider populace.
The Minister disclosed the above, when she joined the chiefs and people of La to celebrate this year’s Homowo under the theme “Cultural Knowledge base to the Youth for a Disciplined Society”.
A value addition to the planned Homofest is that, the grand durbar to climax the three-day celebrations on Saturday, September 27th, 2014 coincides with this year’s World Tourism Day under the theme “Tourism and Community Development”.
She observed that the introduction of the festival is timely, especially at a better time when the threat of Ebola is having a negative impact on the tourism industry. This, she opined, requires that Ghana devises strategies to boost domestic tourism.
Activities lined up for the two events (Homofest and World Tourism Day) include a decentralized clean-up exercise in all the sixteen (16) Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region as part of efforts to rid the communities of filth and its attendant problems such as cholera, with its effect on tourism, culture and creative arts.
Present with the Minister at the event were Nii Amasa Namoale (MP for La Dade-Kotopon), Sylvester Mensah (Chief Executive, National Health Insurance Authority) and Rita Odoley Sowah (MCE, LaDMA).
