Priestesses of Kpone Alata, in the Kpone Traditional Area, Greater Accra Region, have held a news conference to announce their boycott of this year’s Homowo Festival, scheduled for August 28. Their reason was the attack and desecration of the Abonsu Kofi shrine by a stranger last Friday.

Describing the attack as a smack in the face of the deity and priestesses of Kpone Alata, Nii Oko of Agyeman We, the trainer of the Abonsu Kofi priestess, told the press that one Tetteh Ashong, with some thugs and heavy police protection allegedly broke into the shrine to perform annual rites he was not decreed to perform.

“Abonsu Kofi has worshippers and they are the only ones permitted into the shrine on its annual sacred day, Friday, to worship and perform rites to appease it. Therefore, for somebody unknown to Abonsu Kofi to break into the shrine to disturb it and take pictures of the privacy of the deity and post them on social media, is sacrilegious to the deity,” Nii Oko explained.

She said when the priestesses and other youth of Alata heard of the attack on Abonsu Kofi and dashed to the shrine, the police physically assaulted them.

“The thugs who accompanied the said man to Abonsu Kofi shrine to commit the impiety also manhandled the few youths of Alata who had gone to the shrine to protect the priestesses,” Nii Oko alleged.

The head of the Alata priestesses said this has raised tension in Kpone and, therefore, called the head priest of Nungua, Numo Gbobu Wulormor, to intervene to appease the deities of the traditional area.

“It is disheartening to hear some youth say the priestesses smoke marijuana and take hard liquor to intoxicate them for incantation. We feel insulted by these utterances and we are calling on Numo Gbobu Wulormor to come to Kpone to let peace prevail. Until then, we, the priestesses of Kpone Alata are boycotting this year’s Homowo,” Nii Oko said.

Nii Abonsu Kofi, the priestess of the shrine, expressed her displeasure at the deafening silence of the Paramount Chief of Kpone Traditional Area, Nii Tetteh Otu II, on the unlawful entry into her shrine.

“I am appealing to my Paramount Chief to also step in to get the police to produce the persons who unlawfully broke into Abonsu Kofi. Until then, we, the priestesses of Alata, are boycotting this year’s Homowo Festival as announced by our mother.

“We will hold a separate Homowo Festival at Alata and they (Numo Gbobu Wulormor and Paramountcy) know what that means,” she said.