YAM FESTIVAL

The yam festival has just finished here in Ho – a two week long extravaganza that mixes traditional ritual and Christianity together with competitions, community events and an orgy of boozing and street parties. This year also coincided with the fifth anniversary of the “enstoolment” of Agbogbomefia of Asogli State or in other words the coronation of Togbe Afede XIV as Paramount Chief of the Asoglis. So this year by all accounts has been a little bit special. The Togbe is one of the richest men in Ghana with business interests across the world and is also one of the most powerful and respected chiefs in the country, despite some local disputes as to the legitimacy of his chieftaincy.
At the heart of the festival is the celebration of the new yam crop – yam is a staple food here used to make fufu, probably the most popular food here in Ghana. The festival proper begins with vovlowo fe nkeke, which is a celebration and offering to family ancestors. This ancient ritual has now been rolled into All Souls Day and throughout the ceremony we were continually assured that this is not juju. Goats are sacrificed in the Palace and then cooked and eaten by the royal family and guests (veggies excepted!). Protocol is to gather up all the bones which must not be broken or chewed and then carry them in procession to the royal cemetery to be offered to the ancestors. The march was led through the streets by the Asogli warriors in their earth coloured war dress to the accompaniment of drums. The words “funeral weeds” come to mind (for some unknown reason) to describe their dress – the colours are powerful and give off some kind of magical and scary vibe – you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up kind of experience.
This is followed a few days later by Nubabla, the secret purification rites. These are carried out by the warriors (men only) and are strictly off limits. What we did manage to find out was that they gather various herbs and then take them to the cemetery late at night where they perform their rituals. The big party day is Teyuyru or hailing of the new yam. This began in torrential rain (quite appropriate as prayers are said for rain) in a shrine hidden away in a corner of the market where the charcoal sellers work. Libations were poured and prayers said, before the warriors led by one of the Divisional Chiefs set off in single file around the town stopping at various holy places to pour libations. Behind this single line the crowds gathered, kept back by a few warriors, and danced their way to frenzy. It seems like almost the whole town was there, very drunk and in an amazing variety of costumes. My favourite was a very tall young man in a stunning full length red dress who kicked his football up and down the procession. Inevitably there was a lot of fighting and at times sections of the crowd surged forward in wild and unpredictable waves but the buzz was amazing – the energy raw and electric. The procession culminated in a park where the warriors met a delegation of the various Divisional and sub chiefs (still have not got to the bottom exactly as to who is who in the chieftaincy system). The crowds meanwhile kept up the dancing and drinking and all streets in the neighbourhood were blocked – street “jams” in more ways than one.
The next day it seemed that the whole town had a hangover. Lots of shops did not open until really late if at all. Meanwhile back at the Palace the Big Chief, Togbe Afede had finally arrived from Accra to take part in the feasting of the new yam, Dzawuwu. He arrived under a big umbrella to sit in his new gold plated ceremonial chair (imported from China). More goats and chickens were sacrificed and their blood sprinkled throughout the Palace to ward off evil spirits before the new yam was brought forward and duly fed to the Togbe. Two offerings – plain mashed yam and mashed yam cooked in palm oil with eggs. Once the main man had had his fill, the rest of us were offered the new yam. The next few days were taken up with cooking competitions, yam weighing contests and various sporting events until the day when Togbe sat in state to receive congratulations and homage from other Chiefs and the people of Asogli state. This took all day as people lined up with their offerings to pay tribute. Throughout Togbe had to sit there – not allowed to speak, eat or relieve himself. When the final tribute had been paid, Togbe left in procession with drummers and warriors as the party began again. More dancing, more drumming and of course a lot more drinking. For some reason – perhaps a hand down from German colonial times – schnapps is the preferred tipple especially for all things relating to traditional ritual.
The climax of the festival was the Grand Anniversary Durbar of Chiefs held at the Jubilee Park. Togbe’s crew marched through town accompanied by all the other local chiefs – all splendidly decked out in their very best finery and bling under huge ceremonial umbrellas (only the elephants were missing – a suggestion I propose to make to Togbe for next year). Our man, however, prefers a more understated look relying on his natural dignity and elegance, though he did manage a few quick changes of his toga made of traditional cloth throughout the day. This was achieved by his followers surrounding him by a kind of curtain to protect his modesty. Once inside the park the Chiefs and their retinues took their allocated places as the speeches and cultural performances began. All the main political parties were represented and a lot of fine words said about the need for the forthcoming elections to be peaceful. There were guest appearances by the Ashanti royal family – dead impressive – carried on a litter, with his decorative throne carried alongside huge drums and the Togo chiefs (reminded me of school plays) – the three wise men type look – all glittery robes and gold crowns). Togbe himself finally gave his anniversary speech – in Ewe although we managed to get a transcript. Seems like he has a lot of good ideas and plans to uplift his people – so cannot be bad. Suddenly it was all over and off they all marched again. The heavens opened and everyone scattered. Later that evening we were invited back to the Togbe’s new house – a huge white place that looks like it has materialised straight out of Gone with the Wind. We finally got to greet the man, pay our own tribute even. All in all a pretty good bash and cant wait for next year’s festival, especially if he does get those elephants.
Postscript – we discovered a few days later (from our new fan base) that we were on TV – things are lookingup!!