In the centre of an alleyway in lower Prampram, a gentleman in a white singlet and scarf tied around his right wrist, opened the line of a song to cheers from the crowd. It was Sunday night. Surrendered by his compatriots most of whom with powdered faces and with green leaves known as ‘nyanyina‘ tied around their heads and necks, the intro of each song was then taken over from him and completed by his backing vocalists.
With flashlights from mobile phones and cameras drooling over him, he turned around to acknowledge the presence of the large crowd that gathered to watch the event. Known as Ojehshilen, the outdooring of the song was in preparation for the Kpledo festival by the People of Prampram, which takes place on the first three Tuesdays in the month of May, starting on May 2.
As a major festival celebrated by the natives, it outdoors the rich culture and customs of the indigenes. It is characterized by the very ancestral foundations on which the town was founded. During the celebration, ancestral rites are performed for every ancestral deity and their blessings are then evoked. On the third and final day of the event, the festival is then taken to the beach for an elaborate performance and final rites.
The drum or Kplemi is then lowered into the ocean, which signifies the washing away of problems that befell the town in the past months leading to the festival. Prayers are then offered for better things to come onto the land. The role of the Ojehshilen is therefore significant to the event.
The themes of the songs vary and they can be criticism of a person’s bad conduct or praise. On Sunday night, for example, one of the songs wondered why Ghana is at the International Money Fund, IMF, for $3b when the country is blessed with natural resources including oil. They again questioned why people go into government only to turn to Western countries to run the economy for them.
“…you cannot blame Nkrumah for Ghana’s woes, because he didn’t incur the mountainous debt choking the country.”
One unique thing about the songs and the festival is that whoever a song is composed for especially the ones which expose bad character, the subject of the song cannot take the group or any of the members to court.
This is the only time folks are given unwritten license to put their creativity to use, one woman told PramcitiTV, the Prampram-based Youtube channel, devoted to telling the GaDangbe story in its purest form. The channel is this year spearheading the festival, in conjunction with the Prampram Traditional Council
Those who have distinguished themselves are praised, those who have messed up are also praised. This year’s song has a surprise element.
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