The Chiefs and people of Nungua have begun activities to usher in the celebration of this year’s Kplego festival.

The annual celebration which begins with the filling of a special traditional pot with sacred water three times accompanies other related customs and practices.

It includes the pilgrimage from Oyibi to Nungua to deliver the first harvested sacred corn in the year to the Gborbu Wulomo (Shitse), Overlord of the Gadangme State.

This paves way for the Gadangme people to begin the consumption of the new corn which is a significant food crop during the entire celebration of the festival.

The sacred corn is said to be from a generational variety which was planted in the biblical era when Joseph was sold into slavery.

The sacred corn is then sprinkled by the Gborbu Wulomo (Shitse) to the shrines of all the 99 gods in Nungua and to a large extent the Gadangme state.

Throughout the journey from Oyibi to Nungua, no one is allowed to touch the corn until it is received by the Gborbu Wulomo (Shitse).

The Chief Of Oyibi Gonten and Regent of the Nungua Manklalo,  Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, in an interview said, according to oral tradition, the Gadangme people who were also in Egypt with the Jews made away with some of the corn seeds and planted them anywhere they settled during their migration process.

Nii Bortey explained that the final place the corn was planted was in Oyibi and as a result, this year the pilgrims walked bare footed from Oyibi to Nungua to hand over samples of the corn to the Gborbu Wulomo (Shitse) to pave way for the entire state to also begin the consumption of the new corn.

He said Nungua was the first Gadangme State to have arrived in present-day Ghana from their last stay in Benin City, Nigeria.

Ban notice

Aside from the commencement of the consumption of the new corn, Nii Bortey said the general public had been served notice that a temporal ban would place on funerals and its associated rites from Sunday, May 26, to Monday, July 15, 2019, as part of activities to begin the celebration of the festival.

He said the ban will begin after the sacred corn, known locally as Abele had been sprinkled by the Gborbu WulomoShitse, Wor-Lumo Konor Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII.

“The sacred maize is carried on foot from Oyibi near Dodowa through the various Nungua communities along the route to Nungua and it is so important that without it, the entire Gadangme Homowo will not be celebrated,” he said. 

The ban is expected to affect such areas as Nungua Township and its environs, Teshie/Nungua Estates, Buade, AddoGonno, Odikoman, Kweiman (Nungua Barrier areas), Sakumo Estates, Sakumono Township, Lashibi, Klagon, OkpoiGonno, Baatsonaa, Kotobaabi, NmaiJorn, Borteyman, Santeo, Katamanso, Kweidornuman and the entire Community 18, Oyibi and all town and villages.

Ban on noise making

Meanwhile, there will also be a one week ban on noisemaking in the afore-mentioned areas from 5 pm on Monday, July 1, to 6 pm on Monday, July 8, 2019, to make way for the festival which commences on Saturday, July 6.

On Thursday, July 4, there will be the sacred Awitsemor rites for which all persons in the Nungua Township and its immediate surroundings will be required to stay indoors from 10 pm to 5 am next day.

According to the Planning Committee of the festival, the ban must be respected to the fullest to forestall any challenges.