Feverish preparations are underway in the Nyimfa division of the Ekumfi Traditional Area to receive President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the Ahmadiyya Missionary Training College Park at Ekumfi Ekrawfo on Saturday, September 10, 2022 when the grand durbar takes place as highlight of the week-long Akwanbo Festival of the Chiefs and people of the division.
Within the three towns forming the Nyimfa Division- Ekrawfo, Atakwaa and Otabenadze, elaborate preparations are ongoing to receive the Head of State and his entourage. Banners are already up announcing the event while gutters are being desilted, bushes being cleared general cleaning underway.
According to Mr. Ebo Quansah, Chairman of the Ekrawfo Town Development Committee and head of the Tripartite Committee for the Akwanbo Festival, the President will have a number of dignitaries for company.
Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu will lead a high-powered delegation of Parliamentarians, including Deputy Majority Leader Afenyo Markin, Mr. Kobina Tahir Hammond, Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Mr. Ato Cudjoe, the immediate past Member of Parliament for Ekumfi and Mr. Abeeku Crentsil, current MP for Ekumfi.
According to the head of the planning committee, Nana Kwaku Dei, Nkosuohene of Parko, near Nsawam, in the Eastern Region, who is also the known in private life as Mr. Ransford Tetteh, former editor of the state-run Daily Graphic, he will be at the festivities, together with two professors from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, namely Professor Ackuaku and Associate Professor Kwadwo Duah Ofori.
Chief Executive of the Komfo Anokye Hospital, Dr. Oheneba Danso, Kofi Dua-Adonteng, an Accra-based legal practitioner and a number of private businessmen are expected to grace the occasion.
The week-long programme begins on Monday, September 5, 2022 with the traditional inspection of Asafo drums and other instruments for traditional drumming and dancing, led by Tufuhun Kweku Kwansa. After the inspection, Asafo drumming and dancing will take centre stage.
On Tuesday, chiefs, Ebusuampanyin of the seven clans and other traditional leaders will visit shrines and ancestral groves to perform rites to pave the way for the ancestors of the land to give their blessings to the celebration.
In the evening, there will be candle-light procession through the main street at Ekumfi Ekrawfo to the Community Centre, where inter-denominational service will formally usher in the Akwanbo.
On Wednesday, the traditional clearing of the path which our ancestors took from Mankessim to the present settlement will take place. There will be a football gala featuring the town’s women football teams in the afternoon.
On Thursday, the Ekrawfo Asafo Company will start their traditional journey at 12 noon to join the Atakwaa Company. The two Asafo companies will drum and dance all the way to Otabenadze, where they would be welcomed by the local Asafo company.
The three groups will visit the location, where the Ekumfi Traditional Area links up with Enyan and Gomoa to perform rituals associated with Akwanbo, before joining chiefs and other leaders at a mini durbar.
Traditionally, the Otabenadze Asafo Company will join the Atakwaa and Ekrawfo companies back to Ekrawfo before the Asafo companies disperse.
Friday begins with a float by the youth to Mando and Essarkyir. There will be food bazaar at the Ekrawfo Community Centre where traditional food will be served.
Organisers insist that current menu popular in all parts of the country like indomie, fried chicken and pizza have all been declared unwholesome and who ever prepares any of such culinary, will face traditional action.
After Muslim prayers in the afternoon, Akroboto, that is the local residents, will face natives eking out a living outside the town, for a challenge football match.
For the youth, the thrill of going out on a float in the evening is the best treat, since an evening float is fixed for Friday evening.
The next day, Saturday, September 10, 2022 is the real Mackoy. That is the highlight of the week-long celebration with the President as the Special Guest of Honour at the grand durbar at Ekumfi Ekrawfo.
A dance at which Miss Akwanbo will be crowned will take place at Bash Gardens, operated by Mr, Bahir Kweku Hayford, a national football coach of repute.
The Ekumfi Cultural Troupe, a very innovative group using Asafo drums and dance to perform will feature as highlight of the Miss Akwanbo dance.
The curtain comes down on the week-long celebration with a special challenge match featuring Premier giants Accra Great Olympics and local lads Ekumfi United for the Kwamena Biney Challenge Cup at Ekumfi Ekrawfo on Sunday, September 11, at 3pm.
Just before the match, there will be a mini fund-raising durbar at the Ekrawfo Community Centre. Monday, September 12, is set aside for family meetings and general stock-taking of the festivities.
