KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
The problem is noise and not ban on drumming
Are we a noisy people? Some think we are. And so in Britain some time ago, Africans were refused accommodation in certain neighbourhoods because they were believed noisy.
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I maintained then that it was rationalisation of the colour bar because white neighbours could also be noisy. Sometimes the British took their own folk to court for excessive noise from night parties and piano practice! They realised that human beings could be noisy and so a law was enacted against noise. And the law was enforced.
Over here in this country, we also had a law and continue to have a law against noise. It was strictly enforced in colonial days, especially in residential areas. The law was respected and enforced after independence and one could sleep in peace after 10 p.m.
Influx of people
But the influx of people into Accra and the major towns had their impact on social behaviour. Many of those who flocked into Accra lost their village culture and behaved as they felt like.
The village practices and inhibitions were lost and the laws of the city were neither appreciated nor respected. As authority ignored the laws on noise, drumming and dancing until dawn became a way of whiling away the miseries of the harsh city life.
Some turned to the churches for succour because of their strong Christian belief. Others did so because of a new religious awakening while quite a few believed that for prayerful members of the appropriate church, ‘God will provide’ and solve the intractable personal problems of the intolerable city life.
Dancing, singing, loud emotional prayers and lamentations in quite a few churches became common. Even some Moslems have joined in the religious screams. They call the faithful to prayers not from the mosque but by loud incantations from residential areas at 4 a.m!
Noise in Accra
Accra has become noise-infested and many who can afford it have moved to gated conurbations or estates of quietude. But it is not sufficient to run away from the filth and noise. One has to fight the menace.
Unacceptable noise levels in Accra should not be trivialised by questioning the ban on drumming and dancing by the Ga state. The problem is not a ban on freedom to shout away difficult living conditions; it is the human right of peace and enforcement of the law.
Committee on noise
The Ga state’s ban on drumming became a major social, political and legal issue during the tenure of office of Mr I.C. Quaye as Minister for Greater Accra. The minister sensibly established a committee of those involved in all aspects of the matter.
The police, the legal and environment establishments, the churches, the priests and chiefs of the Ga state and concerned organisations like the Ga-Dangme Council were members of the committee which agreed that the first priority was to enforce the law.
The environmental protection experts explained the noise levels permitted by law. Representatives of the churches, the Ga state, the police and the Environmental Protection Council visited several places in Accra especially the precincts of the residence of the Ga priest, the Nai Wulomo.
The noise levels were measured (by the only one instrument available) at these places and it was found that the permitted legal limits at the time were exceeded in many areas.
Consultations
Friendly consultations took place and the churches and other parties were advised on how to curtail noise and so be within the law. Subsequent visits showed that there was general satisfaction by all parties.
It was agreed that the Ga youth should not be encouraged to invade churches whose singing and noise were not heard outside the church. The churches were advised to not openly flout the Ga state ban and to consider sound-proofing their premises so as to keep within the law at all times.
The committee took advantage of the opportunity to recommend assistance to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to educate the public about the noise levels permitted by law especially at night. It was also recommended that the necessary assistance be given to the police to enforce the law about noise.
Unfortunately the committee did not complete its work by writing up its recommendations for the authority to act upon. The meeting at which this was to be done never took place.
At the last meeting, some representatives of certain churches and the Ga state informed the committee members present that they had confirmed the decisions reached and all problems had been amicably resolved. There was therefore no need to continue the meetings. They had informed committee members they could contact that there was no need for further meetings.
Committee reports
Our trouble in Ghana is that we set up committees and do not bother to follow their proceedings to the end or implement their findings. In this particular case, the committee did not formally conclude its work. But sometimes a committee report is submitted with fanfare and that is
the end. A few weeks later, we cannot even trace a copy of the report.
We therefore go over the same issues repeatedly while markets burn, buildings collapse and payments are made for work not done! And so let us not incite unnecessary ethnic strife by challenging the legality of the Ga state ban while the illegality of the central issue of noise is not in doubt.
The ban on drumming and noise in Accra before the Homowo Festival can be largely accommodated if we uphold the laws on noise. Let us deal with this problem and not hide our impotence or reluctance to do our duty by raising esoteric abstruse legal issues.