Leyyah festival goes well in Accra
The aroma of a wide variety of Ghanaian dishes wafted in the air as traditional drums throbbed and elegantly-robed Muslim chiefs and queens mingled with other dignitaries and the general public that had gathered for the second edition of the Inner-City Leyyah Festival held recently at the Afua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra.
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Held under the theme: “Bridging the Traditional and Religious Barriers”, the festival was organised by the National Commission on Culture (NCC) in collaboration with the Ga-Dangme Muslim Council and the Council of the Nine Regional Inner-City Muslim Chiefs.
Performers at the programme included traditional groups from the Sisala, Kusasi, Frafra, Dagomba ethnic groups as well as Ga-Dangme Cultural Troupe.
They played invigorating music and performed dances to reflect the festival’s key aim of promoting peaceful coexistence, economic empowerment and national development through culture.
Dr Ziblim Iddi, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, was a guest speaker at the programme and he explained that it was not in competition with Zongofest, a festival that celebrates the cultural heritage of Zongo communities in Ghana.
“The Leyyah Festival is not in any way competing with Zongofest. Therefore, the negative information out there meant to make the NCC and the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development appear unpalatable is unfortunate,” Dr Iddi pointed out.
He urged Muslims within the indigenous communities in the country to unite and undertake mutually beneficial projects for national development.
According to him, peaceful coexistence with one’s neighbour borne out of hospitality and tolerance, formed part of the culture that had facilitated national development.
The Chief Director at the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development, Mrs Gifty Mahama Biyira also said the ministry needed the utmost cooperation of all to achieve its objectives.
The President of the Ga-Dangme Muslim Council, Mr Sultan Nii Nortey Ceasar, appealed to the relevant government outfits to support the Leyyah Festival financially to enable it to stand firm and advance the interest of indigenous Muslims in Ghana.
