KROBO TRADITION: KROBO YOUTH RE-EXAMINES THE “LA POMI” CUSTOM ON SOCIAL MEDIA

28.06.2014 LISTEN

For over 17 hours on Monday, there were mixed reactions on the WhatsApp social media page of the Kloma Hengme Association concerning the performance and relevance of the “La Pomi” tradition of the Krobos.

According to Krobo custom, if a man had children/ child with a woman out of wedlock, for the man to have full and legitimate paternal control over his children/child, he must perform “La Pomi” (cutting the “la” Fibre string) to cut the seal of maternal ownership of the children/child. He must do this with a castrated sheep (“To saa'), schnapps and an amount of money.

However, on the WhatsApp page of the Association on Monday, the custom drew mixed feelings and wild reactions from Krobo youth all over the world. Whiles many condemned the practice and called for its immediate abolition and abandonment, others call for its maintenance and the need to keep it sacred.

One of those who are condemning the custom; Rama K Ayanu, an Executive of the Association, in her submission wondered how a human being can be 'exchanged' with a sheep. To her “Men impregnate the women and abandon them, after other relatives take care of them to become prominent, someone brings an animal to exchange the human being”.
She then continued “My maternal grandpa has instructed that no descendant of his should be exchanged with a sheep. Aaaaarrr mere animal? What were our fore fathers thinking when they instituted the custom?......The men who take advantage of women in such cases are without conscience in my sight. How much does a sheep cost compared to the fee of a tertiary institution??

Korkor; a proud Krobo lady, who is one of those calling for the maintenance of the custom sees nothing wrong with the age-old tradition. In an argument to support her submission, she said “La pomi is not bad. It is there so that men will not take advantage of women. But that does not mean that if the man has not yet done the la pomi, he should not take care of the child”.
She however blames some of her fellow women for being the cause of their own troubles. “Some of our women are the cause sometimes. They prevent the men from taking care of the children, or the children going to their fathers all in the name of they have not done the la pomi. The traditions are there, but we should use them wisely so that people will not take advantage of us. The Akans have similar thing called kwasiabuo. So it is fine…..I like la pomi and nothing should be changed”

In defense of the custom, and the need to appreciate our own, a proud Krobo James Odonkor advised Krobos to stop “crying foul because we don't know what is going on somewhere”….” Where I am now, people are sleeping with their sisters because no sex before marriage, and the boy has no money to marry and sisters from poor family so nobody will marry her. I know somebody who is sleeping with the grandmother because he has nowhere to go”.

Jane Kpabi; a Krobo who lives in the USA, on her part came in strongly in defense of her fellow women: “The guys talking bla bla bla on this forum, don't you have girlfriends? It seems you are all apportioning the blame on only the women. If you do have a girlfriend and don't control your libido what do you think will happen when you are not legally married to the woman? Certainly there will be a casualty. And there you turned blaming the woman. Don't forget we don't make ourselves pregnant. We are all enjoying what it takes in a relationship and then the unexpected happens”.

In an attempt to avoid this whole “La Pomi” brouhaha, a number of suggestions were made. Evans DePhilosopher Martey thinks education is the only way out: “To deal with it totally to the core, we need to educate our generation about how to stay away from pre-marital sex which will lead to complications in their marriages….. I think the antidote to this problem is to educate our ladies to lead life full of chastity, and to those who find themselves in such humane situations should learn their lessons…….”

The program was anchored and moderated by Rev Chris Baah Nartey; a Reverend Minister of the Bethel Preby Church, Nuaso.