Everyone must willingly uphold the Ga Traditional Council’s 2023 Ban on Noise Making

Introduction
Yesterday, the Ga Traditional Council announced its one month ban on noise making within the Ga State as a prerequisite to the 2023 Homowo Festival celebrations. This ban is in tandem with the Ga cultural practices which must be observed willingly by everyone living within the Ga State. It goes without disputation for example that Accra, a Ga city and the capital city of Ghana has become a heavily noise polluted cosmopolitan area. The Environmental Protection Agency has virtually become helpless, or should I blatantly say the EPA is apparently non-existent so far as noise control is concerned? Personally, I have come to love the Ga annual ban on noise making because I detest noise. Besides, the ban holds some value for everyone regardless of religious affiliations. It is from the foregoing perspective that I write to support the 2023 ban and ask that we all adhere to it strictly just as we all joined Christian and Muslim fasting and religious festivities recently.

Non-Adherence in previous years
In view of the reality that Accra especially has become a highly cacophonous city within which blaring musical devices are used on a daily basis in our worship centres, market places, roadsides and other areas. It is as though the Ghanaian ear is made for high decibels of sound. Somehow, we are suffering from sound addiction to the extent that preaching from religious centres must be done using loudspeakers even when the congregants are not many and do not need such sound amplifiers.

Perhaps due to the sound addiction and disregard for the traditional religious worship, some Christians and Muslims question the relevance of the annual ban on noise making by the Ga Traditional Council and thus disobey the ban. In the past, this disregard for traditional worship and demonstration of religious intolerance compelled the Traditional Council to use its taskforces to enforce the ban mandatorily and ruthlessly.

Mostly, this approach led to clashes between the taskforces and members of other religious sects leading to injuries and/or seizure of various musical instruments being used to defy the ban. We all know that such disharmonious occurrences make coexistence difficult in any human settlement.

Perhaps there is good council from the assertion by the late Torgbe Dedzi Ngorgbier Korto of Mepe Traditional Area in the Volta Region regarding peaceful religious co-existent. He said, “Any human settlement without a church does not develop with speed because the churches usually build schools for our children to get formal education and gainful employment. However, a community without communal deities is a mere human settlement and not a traditional area.” One may submit in tandem with this assertion that, despite the cosmopolitan nature of Accra and its national capital status, it holds some of the traditional areas within the Ga State with their deities which demand certain observations. As such, Islamic, Christian and traditional believers in the Ga Traditional Area must co-exist peacefully and respect one another’s beliefs. Accordingly, people must not compel the Ga Traditional Council to compel adherence to the ban with force.

2023 Ban on Nosie Making
The 2023 ban on noisemaking and drumming in Accra commenced yesterday Monday, May 15, 2023 to last till Thursday, 15th June 2023. Fortunately and commendably, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A.M.A.) and the Ghana Police Service have thrown their weights behind the Ga Traditional Council to enforce the ban without violence as it used to be. On the altar of peace, harmony and national security, the A.M.A has issued a guideline for adherence by residents within its jurisdiction. The tenets of the A.M.A guideline are worth citing verbatim herein as a reminder.

1. During the period of the ban, churches are expected to carry out their activities within their premises and refrain from the use of musical instruments.
2. The positioning of loudspeakers outside the premises of churches, mosques and pubs are banned. Roadside evangelists are to cease their activities during this period.
3. Religious bodies and the 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.
4. Other guidelines by the Ga Traditional Council (GTC) include a ban on funeral rites and their related activities.
5. 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.
6. By this notice, we entreat all persons, towns and villages within the Ga Traditional Area to cooperate and comply with the directive accordingly during this period.

Health Benefits of Reduced Noise
In fact, to some of us, the ban on noise making should even be placed not only once in a year because Accra is too noisy. Reduced noise is beneficial to health, but noise pollution is dangerous. Reduced noise also supports good sleep and brain function.

Unwanted noise can interfere with our daily routine and affect our quality of life. The higher the exposure to noise pollution is and the longer we suffer from it, the worse the negative effects. Noise can affect our physical health and overall well-being and touch many aspects of our lives, including concentration, sleep and mental health.

Noise pollution and its dangerous ramifications for health are no respecter of a person’s religious affiliation. This is why we must even commend the Ga Traditional Council for sustaining the annual ban on noise making despite the challenges that came with its enforcement in the past.

Research also shows that when people are exposed to noise, it raises their stress levels which can lead to increased heart rate and high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. With your health and well-being at risk, it is even important to take steps to reduce noise pollution in even your home.

Conclusion
Aside the religious tolerance perspective of the need to willingly adhere to the annual ban on noise making in Accra and other Ga Traditional Areas, noise pollution is harmful to health. Alternatively, reduced noise tends to have a positive knock-on effect on life. To this end, the residents of Accra and other Ga communities affected by the 2023 ban on drumming and noise making must adhere to the ban without an iota of compulsion by the Ga Traditional Council. You may choose to do so for its health and not religious benefits. It is strange that we travel to other countries and willingly adhere to similar directives, but we tend to satanize ours. ~ Asante Sana ~

Philip Afeti Korto
Hospital Administrator
afetikorto@yahoo.com