By Joseph Nana Yaw Cobbina
Adjen Kotoku Nii Larmo I has stated that all families in the community should ensure that peace prevails during and after the Homowo festival festivities. He reiterated the fact that it is traditional for everyone in a family to dip into the same bowl or pot of kpekpei at the same time as a symbolic reminder of the fact that distinctions of age, rank and gender are overlooked during the Homowo celebration.
He urged the youth to ensure peace during and after Homowo festivities. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the development chief of Amoaman, Adjen Kotoku Nii Larmo I, he said being a youth and a development chief, he would ensure helped the youth in Amoaman get skills through training to enable them to be engaged in gainful employment, rather than giving them money for personal use.
During the Homowo, the traditional Ga food known as kpekpei or kpokpoi is made from steamed, fermented corn meal and palm oil, often with okra or smoked fish added, served with palm soup.
In addition to being served at the family feast, kpekpei is sprinkled by Nii Okrumansa I at residential areas and cemeteries as a tribute to the dead ancestors and as a way of symbolically “nourishing” them. In private homes. After this ritual, the dancing, drumming, and hooting that lie at the heart of the Homowo celebration begin.
There is a belief among some Ga people that Homowo is rooted in the Jewish celebration of passover, and that kpekpei plays a role similar to that of matzoh or unleavened bread.
Nii Larmo I pointed out that the fact that the Ga often apply red or ochre clay to their doorposts during Homowo to keep evil spirits away, just as the Jews sprinkled blood on their doorways to keep the Angel of Death from harming their firstborn sons, would seem to support this belief.
The Ga regard all multiple births as a particularly blessed event. Because Homowo is a harvest celebration, twins and triplets, as a symbol of fertility, receive special treatment. After having white clay rubbed on their skin to emphasize their purity, young twins are given a special meal of eggs and yams. Their mothers ask the gods to bless these children and give thanks for the gift of their birth.
