KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
I like the Ghanaian interpretation of Easter
Some 44 years ago I had to drive through the German Autobahn to Austria on Easter day.
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I recall with nostalgia the sumptuous lunches on Easter Sunday and the hilarious ‘picnics’ the next day and decided to treat the children (they are now ‘big’ men and women) to a memorable luncheon.
I left the Autobahn and drove to a village restaurant whose cuisine had once made everything attractive in the German countryside. It was closed! I drove to another village I knew. The restaurant was also closed. Both had beautiful girls in white inside or lingering outside.
I was told Easter was confirmation day and the young in white had been properly inducted into their station in the church. Their parents had booked places in the restaurant to celebrate the event, hence all the celebrated restaurants were fully booked.
We had to make do with an apology of a Sunday lunch. I was lyrical about Easter Sunday dinners when I was a boy.
Returning to Ghana, I wanted the young to have a taste of the good old days. I took the family to the Meridian Hotel in Tema to show what an ordinary Sunday dinner was like. I was not disappointed. The food was good. The service was good. The atmosphere was good; and all this for a pittance per person who could eat to the heart’s desire.
I bet few readers have never heard of the Meridian Hotel in Tema. Its carcass is a sad reminder of our capacity to waste assets.
The young of today cannot enjoy the Easter holidays the way we did unless we foreswear our foolish ways! But even without the depth and quality of enjoyment in the past the Ghanaian celebration of Easter is a national asset.
The Christian message is properly interpreted. The triumph of good is marked with joy sharing and dancing.
The part of the old ceremony I miss most is ‘Adjabeng’. Various church groups congregate at ‘Adjabeng’, which is near the railway station (did we have railways in Ghana?) and old Kingsway and is now the home of the public health services and Medical and Dental Council.
Food is cooked on the spot and more brought in. At about 4.00 p.m. the various guilds, resplendent in their uniforms or in white, dance to the music of their bands led by identified flags and marched up the Nsawam Road, now Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, to the General Post Office.
There they dispersed to their churches to find their fine dresses drenched with perfume showered on them by admirers.
Some of the elderly felt the march a must. They recalled a friend who died fairly soon after the march the previous year and felt the current year’s event might be their last fling on earth and they should therefore get involved.
Hardly did they realise that excessive exertion sent the blood pressure up and the consequent stroke resulted in death.
Expressions of the Ghanaian interpretation of Easter show some variations across the country today. Perhaps the Kwahus have the most thoughtful and expressive celebration of Easter. It is a time to go back to roots, appreciate the sacrifice and forbearance of the patriarchs and endeavour to raise the quality of life in the community.
The various conventions also have their usefulness but a few appear to be organised and conducted by money-seekers to exploit the get-rich by all-night prayers. But in spite of ignorance the Easter mood is still lovable. I hope I will always like the Ghanaian interpretation of Easter as I did in the past.
