The 2019 National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) opened in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, last Saturday.
The theme for the week-long festival is: “Empowering the youth through culture, tourism and creative arts for employment and wealth creation”.
Among activities lined up for the festival are a colloquium, regional days, music and dance performances and a beauty pageant.
Local content
The Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, who opened the festival, called on the media, particularly those in television, to prioritise local content in their programmes.
He said the situation where telenovelas which had no bearing on Ghanaian culture had become the order of the day was detrimental to the development of the youth and national progress.
He said such programmes had not only succeeded in adulterating Ghanaian culture but also swayed some of the youth from traditional beliefs and practices.
“We must hold high the values in this country. We must entrench them in us. We need to bring in the youth and also teach our children about our cultural values. Let us organise our culture well and live by it,” he added.
Training centres
According to Mr Osafo-Maafo, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, with support from the Japanese government, had equipped pilot training centres at the regional offices of the Centre for National Culture with materials for the training of the youth in various vocations.
The vocations include woodwork, traditional pottery and ceramics, textiles, fashion and design, leatherware, basketry, jewellery and bead-making.
He said the beneficiaries voluntarily offered themselves to be trained to enable them to acquire skills to create jobs for themselves and also help others.
He said the government would further pursue an agenda to construct regional cultural theatres, as contained in the 2016 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party.
“The government is making efforts to complete work on some infrastructure projects at the various centres for National Culture, particularly in the Eastern and the Ashanti regions,” he said.
He added that the government was also partnering the private sector to establish a community youth cultural centre and crafts village at Kanda, Accra, to provide suitable marketing avenues for arts and craft producers and vendors.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the government would embark on the Marine Drive Tourism and Investment Project to open up Ghana to investors in tourism, culture and the arts to further create jobs and wealth.
He said with the declaration of 2019 as the ‘Year of Return’, receptive facilities were also being established at various tourism sites in the country.
Significance
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, emphasised the significance of Ghanaian culture and the need to protect it from adulteration.
She said the potential in the tourism sector, which is the fourth highest income earner for the country, was yet to be fully harnessed for national development.
She expressed the commitment of the government to support the growth of the sector and urged the people to endeavour to visit the various tourism sites in the country as part of efforts to promote domestic tourism.
Realignment
The Vice-President of the National House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Abeadze Traditional Area in the Central Region, Daasebre Kwebu Ewusie, said the realignment of the National Commission on Culture to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture was not appropriate.
Rather, he was of the opinion that the commission should be restructured into an authority to enable it to achieve its objectives.
He also appealed to the Ghana Education Service to pay critical attention to the country’s culture by promoting cultural education in schools.
The Paramount Chief of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Professor (Emeritus) Oti Boateng, called for a ‘root-based development agenda’ for the country.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Nuertey Ayertey, asked for support for the Beads Market in Koforidua, which he said had been recognised by UNESCO as the largest in West Africa.
