The Odwira Festival

Odwira is an annual festival held in Akropong (Akuapem), Ghana. Last week marks its 200th anniversary and celebration. Odwira means “purification,” and serves as a memorial to those whose lives were lost during the war with the invading Ashante people in 1826. Moreover, Odwira is adorned with sacred rituals with the purpose of cleansing the community, cleansing the local “stools” which have authority over the land, and cleansing the peoples of Akuapem from the wrongs of the previous year. It is a time of looking back to the ancestors and honoring them, a time of mourning and remembering those have died in the last year, and a time of welcoming the New Year of the Akan calendar which began on Thursday during the week of Odwira. Lastly, Odwira is a thanksgiving festival centered around the yam harvest. From what we gather, the spiritual markers and identity of the Odwira Festival are rooted in a history of resistance to the slave trade.

Last Friday we celebrated the Grand Durbar outside the King’s Palace with thousands in attendance which included local townspeople, the peoples of the Akuapem area, visitors from inside and outside Ghana, and dignitaries such as the Norwegian Ambassador and the former President of Ghana. It was a grand affair with incredible colors and pageantry! At the center of it all was Nana Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, the King, or Paramount Chief, of the Akuapem Traditional Area. 

On Sunday, two days later, a thanksgiving ecumenical service was held outside the Palace as means of acknowledging the strong and productive relationship of the Paramount Chief and the peoples of Akuapem with missionaries from Europe and Jamaica dating back almost two centuries, coupled with an ongoing relationship with local churches and the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (ACI) where I serve.

From the side of the missionaries, the church, and ACI, let me suggest that it is essential to not condemn the social and religious histories of a people, but rather to be in relationship with one another, to promote dialogue, and to find places of convergence and mutuality despite differences. After all, the richly layered and textured history and religiosity of the peoples of Akuapem (Ghana) have much to offer us all in terms of understanding our shared history and to better understand our God of grace and mercy who chooses to meet us in respective socio-cultural-religious contexts.

Please delight yourself in the photos below to gain a different picture of Ghana and Africa, a Ghana and Africa beyond what you may currently see or know with regard to this glorious continent.

Entrance of Nana Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III,
Paramount Chief of the Akuapem Traditional Area

Members of Royal Families who have volunteered to carry 
food to the ancestors on New Year's Day

Girl carries food atop her head for the ancestors;

a spiritually arduous task 

One of the Chiefs of Akuapem greets those attending
the Odwira Festival 

Another chief, decked out in Kente cloth

 

Dressed to the Nines!

Much fanfare as groups and dignities come 
to greet the Paramount Chief (King)

Kristi kneels on the balcony of the Palace to get a better view

Inside the Palace

Young boy poses inside the Palace 

Dr. Francis Addo Sakyiama of ACI leads a team of student researchers as
they conduct particpant observation during the Odwira Festival, 
seeking to learn about local culture in relation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ 

Ecumenical Thanskgiving Service (Sunday, outside the Palace)

Members of various churches gather to Worship together to
give thanks to God for the Odwira Festival

The Paramount Chief and his Sub-Chief sit with the elders
front/center in the worship service

The Very Reverend Professor J.O.Y. Mante (Chancellor of ACI)
shares God's Word 

Linguists (Spokespersons) of the Paramount Chief and Sub Chiefs
sit with theirs staffs during worship 

The Pastor (J.O.Y. Mante) prays for
the Paramount Chief