Cape Coast ready for ‘biggest ever’ Fetu Afahye
"Fetu Afahye this year, from all indications, promises to be the biggest ever," says the Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II.
The festival is in its 60th year and coincides with the 25th anniversary of the installation of the Paramount Chief. Also, it will be the first time the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will be visiting the ancient city in his royal capacity.
The tradition of the people of Cape Coast will be served hot all week on golden platters for fun-hungry patrons.
Expect it. Glitzy. Crowds, khebabs and buzz; bustling pubs and dancing carnivals, all in one city: Cape Coast. This time, too, it is expected to be graced by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Emintsimadze Whiskey
Indeed, the Fetu Afahye at 60-branded whiskey is already available on the market.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II — Paramount Chief of Oguaa Traditional Area
Named after the Emintsimadze Palace, the palace of the Paramount Chief, the drink is said to be Osabarimba Kwesi Atta's own recipe produced and bottled by Aphro Beverages in Accra.
It is being sold for GH¢100 per bottle. T-shirts and other paraphernalia for the festival are also out.
The city is building up and brands such as Chickenman Pizza have shown up in the ancient city already, ready for business.
Hospitality facilities, including Ridge Royal Hotel and Lush on the Coast, the new addition, Samritt, Capital Hill, Hacienda and Matlat hotels, are ready to bubble with people and activities.
Medians are being cleared. The annual operational bars and pubs are springing up along the streets.
From now till the Afahye weekend, thousands, of both local and foreign tourists, will troop to Cape Coast for one of Ghana's most celebrated festivals, Fetu Afahye.
Fetu Afahye
Fetu Afahye is one of the city's most prized heritages.
For 60 years, the renowned Fetu Festival of the people of Cape Coast has been celebrated to bring the people together for development.
The festival is celebrated to thank the gods for a successful year and to pray for protection and guidance in the coming year. It also encourages family meetings and reunions.
In recent times, it has also become a time for socialisation. It is celebrated in the first week of September, and the climax is a grand durbar of the chiefs and people of Oguaa every first Saturday of September.
The week preceding the first Saturday of September is the festival week.
On Monday, there is an Akoms Night that features a performance of incantations by all traditional priests in the area at the Fosu Lagoon to perform rituals and to prepare the Fosu Lagoon on Tuesday.
Akoms night
The Akoms Night is the dance display of traditional priests and priestesses. During that process, the “Akomfo” — priests and priestesses — dress in white calico and decorate their legs and other parts of their body with white marks to dance to the admiration of the patrons of the show.
Drumming and dancing by the various Asafo companies, the local warrior groups, is what many people describe as the best part of the entertaining segment of the festival.
A significant feature of the festival is the regatta on the Fosu Lagoon which takes place on the Tuesday preceding the first Saturday of September.
The regatta is a pleasant sight as the Asafo companies engage in special racing on the lagoon to show their prowess in the use of canoes on the lagoon. This is after the Bakatue ritual.
The Omanhen throws a fishing net to symbolise the official lifting of a ban on fishing activities in the Fosu Lagoon.
Purification rites
The 77 deities of the land are believed to play critical roles in the protection and prosperity of the indigenes of the town, according to traditional rulers.
One of the key gods of the land, Nana Paprata, receives a sacrificial cow at the Papratem shrine as part of activities to mark the Fetu Festival.
The festival was referred to as “Black Christmas“ by the white colonial masters in the pre-colonial times. It is held to mark a bumper harvest season and to thank the 77 deities of the Oguaa Traditional Area.
Orange Friday
Orange Friday, known now as one of the world's biggest street carnivals, is an add-on to the festival, with patrons dressed generally in anything orange.
The first Saturday is the climax of the festival. It involves a colourful procession of chiefs and queenmothers in their beautiful palanquins led by the seven Asafo companies (traditional militia) through the principal streets of Cape Coast to the durbar grounds where the leaders and the Paramount Chief will address the people.
The procession generates a lot of excitement as the chiefs and queenmothers are cheered on by their subjects. These seven Asafo companies are critical in the traditional set-up of Oguaa. They are the Bentsir, Anaafo, Ntsin, Nkum, Abrofomba, Akrampa and Amanful.
They have played very crucial roles in the development of communities, defending their people in wars and cannot be ignored.
Firsts
Cape Coast is one of the oldest and popular cities in Ghana. Many beautiful things would make you love this city. Firstly, Cape Coast is the city of firsts. It is the first capital of the country.
Any attempt to remove Cape Coast from Ghana's history will be deemed a deliberate attempt to distort sacred historical facts.
It has the first-ever basic school, the Philip Quaque Boys Basic; the first boys secondary school, Mfantsipim School; and the first girls secondary school, Wesley Girls’ High School.
It also has the first Methodist and Anglican churches.
For others, Cape Coast is the city of sumptuous stews. Fresh fish stew, known as Fantsi Fantsi or ntsitsiin, with kenkey or etsew is their speciality.
Also in Cape Coast stands the magnificent Cape Coast Castle, a scar of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, now one of Ghana's most visited tourist sites.
The role of Cape Coast in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is immortalised by the magnificent Cape Coast Castle where slaves were held in dungeons before they were shipped to the Americas. It was built by the Dutch and changed hands with the Swedes and the British in 1664.
In recent years, the Cape Coast Castle has attracted many people, including then President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his family who visited in July 2009, and current US Vice-President, Kamala Harris, who visited in 2023.
Education
For being among the first communities to encounter the colonisers, Cape Coast had the privilege of having most of the nation’s prestigious second cycle institutions.
These include Holy Child School, Adisadel College and St Augustine's College.
The city also has the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast Technical Universtiy, nursing training colleges and a college of education.
From these great institutions are men and women of honour and repute who have left indelible marks in the nation's history, contributing to its development.
They include author, lawyer, politician and educator, J. E. Casely Hayford; philanthropist and founder member of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, Jacob Wilson Sey; and lawyer and author, John Mensah-Sarbah.
Indeed, the city is acclaimed as the country's citadel of education.
Politics
Cape Coast is politically “enlightened”. The people know exactly what they want. If you are a politician in Cape Coast, be careful. You cannot take them for granted.
It is usually calm in this town of great history which also has a very low crime rate. Along its pristine beaches are sights that soothe the nerves.
Economic activities
The Kotokuraba Market is the economic hub of Cape Coast. It plays host to many traders from within and outside Cape Coast.
In recent times, its Sunday Market has attracted hundreds of traders. The Abura Market has also, in recent times, gained some high patronage from the fast developing Cape Coast North, and has become significant in the economic space in the city.
There are some banks in Cape Coast. Easily noticeable is the GCB Bank, the Absa Bank, Societe General, Prudential Bank and the GT Bank.
Now, because of the Fetu Afahye, many traders are also thronging the city to do business.
Otumfuo to grace Fetu Afahye
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta said the special guest for this year's festival, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, would add a special touch to the festival.
He called on all Cape Coasters, home and abroad, Ghanaians and the world to join in the celebration to make it a world-acclaimed festival.
This year, activities for the festival include a homecoming carnival and a drama night on September 1, a choral contest and drama night at the Cape Coast Castle on Tuesday, September 3.
Wednesday, September 4, is declared Youth and Kids Day. There will be a health screening exercise and visits to Sights and Sounds in Cape Coast (Tourism Day).
On Thursday, there will be the Royal Dinner and the launch of the Osabarimba Fund.
On Friday, there will be the Orange Friday and the Oman purification rites.
The festival will be climaxed on Saturday, September 7, with the grand durbar, followed by a highlife festival, and on Sunday, a thanksgiving service and football competition.
Meanwhile, all through the week, there will be an expo dubbed “Afahye in the Park” near Lush on the Coast at Bakado. Welcome to Fetu Afahye, welcome to Cape Coast.