Very royal Oguaa birthday weekend

I was invited by a friend back then and had quite a good time, especially as I had just resettled back home after a long sojourn abroad and was still in an almost ‘touristy’ mode, with lots of time on my hands.

But every year since then, something always came up around that time that got me saying to myself “Well, never mind, I will go next year.”

Eventually, the promise to myself became weaker with each passing year, and over the last couple of years, Fetu Afahye has not registered with much resonance on my radar, with memories of my last attendance shrouded in the fading, foggy mists of time.

Nonetheless, I love this quaint, charming city which is no doubt home to the best crispy deep-fried octopus along the coast of West Africa, and I do take regular weekend breaks there to wind down whenever I can.

This year, however, an ‘afahye’ resurgence of sorts occupied my mind and simply refused to go away. The catalyst was the fact that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, was to be the special guest at this year’s grand durbar of the festival, which climaxed on Saturday.

However, my newfound urge to attend Fetu Afahye this year was not only due to the royal factor. The climax of the festival was only three days away from my birthday, so I thought I would take up a pre-birthday weekend break with a royal touch in one of my favourite locations in the country.

‘State visit’

I particularly enjoyed watching the traditional reception and protocols accorded Otumfuo and his large retinue of over 1,000 chiefs and attendants by the Omanhene of Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarima Kwesi Atta, as broadcast on social media channels on Thursday.

That was Fante traditional hospitality at its best, with intricate Asafo dance moves and music, as well as the presentation of gifts to Otumfuo, including a symbolic key to the city of Oguaa.

The banquet later that day, hosted by Osabarima, together with the special congregation by the University of Cape Coast to award Otumfuo with an honourary doctorate degree and the subsequent Chancellor’s Ball, had all the trappings and glamour of a ‘state visit’, which it was in the traditional sense even if within the context of a modern republic ― the head of a traditional state welcoming and hosting the head of another traditional state, complete with elaborate protocols and diplomatic niceties.

‘Orange Friday’

I arrived in Cape Coast, better known as Oguaa to its natives, on Friday, which is traditionally dubbed ‘Orange Friday’ when revellers adorn themselves in orange T-shirts, shorts, scarves, caps and literally any apparel they can grab and then enjoy massive street parties.

Bars, nightclubs, pharmacies, boutiques, all manner of vendors and hawkers, taxi drivers and many others operated literally throughout the night and seemed to be doing brisk business, with the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of a truly African night.

I managed to find a strategic spot with a couple of fellow middle-aged friends, and as we sipped our cold beers accompanied by fried octopus, we watched the streets heave with the pulsating crowds having a good time.

Saturday fever

Saturday did not disappoint in majesty, a riot of colours, excitement and sheer grandeur as various traditional rulers of Oguaaman made their way riding slowly to the Victoria Park durbar grounds in palanquins, with giant umbrellas hovering over them.

Otumfuo’s appearance was particularly spectacular, drawing the admiration of many. The thick crowds spilt over from the confines of the rather small enclosure of the park, stretching into near eternity.

The political class was not to be left out of the grand ceremony, with the NPP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Dr Bawumia; his running mate, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and other government and party personalities in attendance.

The Fetu Afahye 2024 Planning Committee deserves plaudits for pulling off what was by all accounts a successful festival.

Cementing alliances, forging peace

In times of old, the relationship between several traditional states in Africa was defined by coerced military alliances, brutal wars, violent upheavals and devastating conquests– a sort of Hobbesian existence where life was, among others, ‘short, nasty and brutish’. Diplomacy was essentially of the gunboat variety.

Today, following colonialism and then independence within modern republics, traditional states that were hitherto enemies have had to put the past behind them and forge a new narrative of peace and friendship within these republics.

The traditional leaders of these ethnic groups have been at the forefront of this new drive, and Otumfuo’s presence in Cape Coast exemplified it in many ways, following a long line of various royal visits across the country.

Particularly, when embers of the past still get stoked by some entrepreneurs and purveyors of ugly ethnocentrism, these visits of friendship and diplomacy reinforce and cement the truth that there is a lot more that binds our respective ethnic groups than divides them.

To this extent, I think the royal visit over the weekend was a huge success and I hope many more visits between our traditional rulers take place in the coming times.

Today, as you read this column, I will be raising a glass not only to toast my birthday but also to a harmonious relationship between the various ethnic groups that make up this beautiful republic.

Three cheers to Oguaaman and Asanteman for the spectacular ‘state visit’!