THE BAN ON DRUMMING, NOISE MAKING

The Ga Traditional Council on Wednesday announced a month-long ban on drumming and noise making in the traditional area.

The annual ban which takes effect from May 13 to June 13, is a prelude to the Ga Homowo Festival which would be observed on August 17.

According to the Traditional Council, the period would be used to pray for bountyharvest and to pray for the country to prevent any mishap.

As is always the case, the annual ban has become a thorny issue in the traditional area because of the cosmopolitan nature of the Ga Traditional area.

Top of the issues that the Traditional Council is confronted with is the constant misunderstanding with some churches and community members who refuse to adhere to the call by the council.

As a consequence, there have been few clashes between churches and traditional authorities for non compliance with the ban.

The Traditional Council at all times, maintain that all churches worship in confined premises without clapping and loud noise.

They also advice against the use of noisy musical instruments, positioning of loud speakers outside the church and mosques that make loud noise.

But these advices by the authorities are often flouted leading to confrontations between the traditional council and some churches and members of the public.

It is regrettable that there should be any confrontation between the traditional council and members of the public over the annual ban on drumming and noise making.

This is because almost all the traditional areas across the country have their traditional norms and practices that everyone is expected to respect.

It is therefore regrettable that some members of the public would want to disregard the traditional norms and practices of the Ga Traditional area leading to confrontation.

The Ghanaian Times would like to advice the public to adhere to the ban to ensure there is peace during the period.

We also would like to urge the taskforce that has been constituted to work in collaboration with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to enforce the ban during the period.

The cooperation from the churches and the public is critical in the interest of peaceful co-existence in the traditional area.