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People of Prampram gear up for Lalue Kpledomi festival after symbolic visit to the Ancestral Forest
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The people of Prampram are gearing up for the celebration of this year’s Lalue Kpledomi festival beginning from April 23.
According to an elaborate programme released by the Prampram Traditional Council, a curfew will immediately follow right after the first celebration has ended.
The second and third will also follow the next Tuesday after each other.
The festival is a veneration of the ancestral deity, Lalue, and the first is held to honour her memory.
The final celebration is often taken into the lower side of Prampram, where the “Kplemi” or drum is lowered into the sea.
Prior to that, an appropriate customary rite will be performed by the Chief Priest of the Traditional Area, Nii Ayertey Charway Labia.
As part of an elaborate spiritual rites towards the festival, a symbolic visit to the ancestral forest was performed near the forecourt of the Prampram District Assembly.
The all-white spiritual cermoney was attended by members of the Prampram Traditional Council led by its President and the Paramount Chief Nene Tetteh Wakah III, who asked for blessings for the people of Prampram and its environs.
For the first time, the event was carried live on PramcitiTV, a social media news outlet based in the town, and streamed around the world.
Explaning the rationale behind the event, Nii Ayiku Obleh IV or Numlor Kpanyor, a Counsellor and prominent member from Kley, one of the four quarters making up Prampram, said the “Huemiyami” in Dangbe or the visit to the ancestral forest, offers the spiritual heads in the town an opporutnity to come together and seek God’s blessings.
He said spiritual fortification is an integral part of every human being and before the beginning of an important exercise as the Kpledomi, it is important the town goes before the Lalue deity, to seek the blessings of God for the town and its people.
“We pray for the good of the land; for our fishermen, farmers, teachers, drivers, and any other professional to flourish in whatever they do,” he said.
“We also pray for those who are desperately seeking to have children to not only be blessed with them, but have the patience and wisdom to raise the children in the appropriate way,” he asserted.
According to him, what is done during the event is no different from what other religious bodies, especially the Christians do in their various places of worship.
Nii Ayiku Obleh IV also pleaded with natives of the town to actively participate in their festival since it is a true representation of their own identity.
The colourful ceremony was also witnessed by the traditional Queenmother Naa Osabu Abbey I, Asafoatsemeyi and Asafoanyemi, divisional chiefs from the traditional areas and members of the public.
African leaders have been urged to strengthen political commitment and domestic investment to end preventable maternal deaths and AIDS by 2030.
The call comes as African health ministers and policymakers meet in Accra to deliberate on health financing, health security and universal health coverage across the continent.
Mr Edouard Bizimana, Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation, made the call on Tuesday at the opening of the African Union’s (AU) 25th Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra.
He said Africa needed increased domestic investment to build resilient health systems as it continued to grapple with infectious diseases and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Mr Bizimana, who is also Chairperson of the AU Executive Council, said although Africa accounted for nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population, it bore 24 per cent of the global disease burden while having less than three per cent of the global health workforce and only one per cent of global health expenditure.
“Despite maternal mortality declining by nearly 40 per cent since 2000, Africa still accounts for about 70 per cent of maternal deaths globally, while almost two-thirds of people living with HIV reside on the continent,” he said.
Mr Bizimana said the growing burden of NCDs was placing additional pressure on already stretched health systems.
“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent painful human realities, preventable losses and unacceptable inequalities, they remind us that health is not an expense it is a strategic investment and a prerequisite for our sovereignty and development. “he said.
Mr Bizimana said recent global health emergencies had exposed Africa’s vulnerability and underscored the need to expand local production of medicines and vaccines, strengthen the health workforce and improve emergency preparedness.
“Our citizens expect resilient health systems where every mother can give birth safely, every child has access to essential healthcare and every African enjoys quality health services regardless of where they live,” he said.
The two-day summit, being held ahead of the 20th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, has brought together health ministers, policymakers and health stakeholders to identify solutions to Africa’s health financing and security challenges.
Madam Florence Samizi, Tanzania’s Deputy Health Minister, called for stronger collaboration among AU Member States to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
The summit is being held on the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equality and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, Tuberculosis, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa.”
The meeting is expected to adopt the Accra Declaration, a roadmap to strengthen Africa’s health systems and advance health sovereignty by 2030. -GNA
Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science, Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato says the imprisonment of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will have little meaning unless it leads to a broader crackdown on illegal mining.
In a post on his Facebook page on the July 21, 2026, Dr. Zaato said the judgment should mark the beginning of efforts to completely eradicate galamsey and hold all those involved accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
He said the country must work towards restoring polluted rivers, protecting forests and ensuring that people implicated in illegal mining activities are prosecuted.
According to him, those the President has publicly acknowledged to be involved in galamsey should face prosecution.
He called for the prosecution of district chief executives (DCEs), members of Parliament (MPs) and senior political party officials who have been accused of engaging in or supporting illegal mining.
Dr. Zaato further urged the government to take decisive action to end the destruction of the country’s forests caused by galamsey.
He maintained that the imprisonment of Chairman Wontumi would only have a lasting impact if it results in a comprehensive and impartial fight against illegal mining across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
