The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says the annual ban on drumming and noise-making in the Ga Traditional Area will commence on Monday, May 10, 2021.
The one-month-long ban will end on June 10, 2021.
For the purpose of peace, harmony and national security, the AMA has set the following guidelines to ensure full compliance with the directive.
1. During the period of the ban, the usual form of worship should be confined to the premises of churches/mosques and noise levels be minimized to the barest limits possible. In addition, all COVID-19 protocols (i.e. washing of hands under running water with soap, the use of hand sanitisers, the wearing of nose masks and physical distancing) should be strictly adhered to.
2. Religious bodies and traditional authorities must show respect for one another and restrain their followers from making derogatory and inflammatory remarks about the beliefs and practices of one another.
3. The positioning of loudspeakers outside the premises of churches, mosques and pubs is banned. Roadside evangelists are to cease their activities during the period.
4. Apart from an identifiable task force that consists of AMA personnel, the Ghana Police Service and Representatives from the Traditional Councils with tags, no other person or group of persons should be seen or found enforcing the abatement of noise in the metropolis.
The one-month-long ban is a custom that precedes the celebration of the Homowo Festival of the chiefs and people of Ga Mashie.
“By this notice, we entreat all indigenes, towns and villages under the jurisdiction of the Ga Traditional Area to operate and comply with us accordingly during this period”, the AMA added in a statement.
