Ga Mantse Urges Organizers to Incorporate Traditional Rites in National Day of Prayer

The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, has called for the inclusion of traditional rites and customs in the upcoming National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, slated for July 1, 2025.

He made this appeal during a courtesy call by the event’s planning committee at the Palace on Wednesday, June 4, stressing that Ghana’s traditional spiritual practices, particularly those of the Ga people, are central to the nation’s peace and identity.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, lamented the absence of traditional elements in the committee’s plans, noting that practices such as the ban on noise-making before Homowo are often misunderstood as fetish.

According to him, these rituals are deeply spiritual, reflecting a period of fasting and reverence for the land and its ancestral spirits.

“The traditional setting has not been included [in the National Day of Prayer]. There are things we do on this land that nobody knows, but these are things that have held the pinnacle of the four corners of this country, especially Ga being the capital.

“What might surprise you is that before every Easter, there’s a Lent, before every Ramadan, there’s a fast. Before every Homowo, there’s a ban to create silence; people have constrained it to be a fetish or others. It’s a period where we fast… I will urge the committee that even preceding the Christian service at 8 am, earlier before that time, there’s a Thanksgiving to the spirits and the forefathers of this land, because that is essential, it cannot be complete without that,” he stated.

In response, the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, stated that he will relay the concerns and provide feedback accordingly.

“You have spoken, we have heard, we will go back to those who gave us the assignment, and then we pick it from there,” he stated.