Want To Marry A Beautiful Virgin? Visit Wenchi Krubi Festival 2023

We have been told by economists that tourism is the 4^th foreign exchange earner for Ghana. If so, then it stands to reason that we must take a serious look at the sector for the country to move forward, economically. The truth is that even though we have a Ministry of Tourism, we are yet to see any impact as far as the conservation of our tourism sites is concerned. Our rich culture which are exhibited during our traditional festivals have been overlooked. In some cases chieftaincy cases have affected our festivals so much so that, festivals have been turned to war zones and division among the people has led to the dilution of our rich culture.

Anytime, I decide to visit the Upper West Region, I make sure I stop over at Wenchi to pay homage to Nana Kusi Appiah, the late Omanhene of Wenchi Traditional Area. He was my very good friend. Even though he was blind, anytime I visited him, he will be the first to mention my name even before I greeted him. I always wondered how he was able to do that. I liked visiting him because he used to tell me a lot of history about the late Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, the former Prime Minister of Ghana who was his brother and his problems with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He recounts to me the rich culture heritage of the people of Wenchi.

One of such visits coincided with the celebration of the Krubi Festival of the Banda Community in Wenchi and I decided to seize the opportunity to witness the festival. I was impressed and mesmerized by what I saw. The whole festive period was full of wonders, joy and heartwarming performances. The Banda tribe in Ghana is made up of hardworking businessmen and women, transport owners, herdsmen etc. Many of them are highly educated and many are domiciled abroad. These people make sure they travel far from where they stay to participate in the Krubi Festival every year. It is the time of family reunion and contributions to the development of their communities. Because the Banda community is made up of predominantly Muslims, the festival is celebrated immediately after the Ramadan fasting period.

What I saw the first time I watched the festival and what I want to see again this year was the climbing of erected platform for virgins who want to prove to suitors, their friends and parents that indeed, they are virgins. The scenario is worth watching. A projected platform of wood is erected where young ladies climb on a ladder to stand and dance, holding what looked like the whisk of a horse tail amidst drumming and singing of their traditional songs. The ladies were gorgeously dressed and the family members present cheered them up. In fact, if even you are one week pregnant and join the ladies on the platform, you will fall down.

If you are not a virgin and you arrogantly decide to climb the platform to join the ladies, the wood you stand on will cave in and you will fall down. Surprised? It is mystic and nobody played with it. It is one of the intriguing part of the Banda Krubi festival and a pride of the Banda people. The ceremony is to portray the pride of young girls who have stayed away from indulging in premarital sex. The activity also promotes chastity among the young girls and an honor to their parents for bringing up their girls in a decent way. How I wish this festival is replicated in all traditional areas in Ghana.

I decided to visit Wenchi this year to witness the Krubi Festival one more time but sadly information reaching me indicated that there could be trouble due to some misunderstanding between a group that calls themselves, Heritage Council of Banda based in Accra and the chiefs and elders of the Banda Community in Wenchi.

Similar threat of peace occurred last year when the Heritage Council organized a parallel Krubi Festival on the same day that the chief and his elders organized the festival. It took the intervention of the Sunyani Police Commander to maintain peace. Information I gathered is that if the Heritage Council decides to organize another Krubi festival, the Banda youth of Wenchi will meet them with violence. The new Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs and the Minister of Tourism should act quickly to avoid any crush since the nation cannot afford resources to maintain order at times like this when the government is trying very hard to steer the ship of state ashore. Any kneejerk reaction will not do anyone any good.

Sometime ago I wrote in this column that the National Investigation Bureau must be remade. They are not proactive. I don't think they report what they hear and see to their bosses. Operatives of the NIB are in every district but we always wake up to hear troubles breaking out before the security forces are called in. In other jurisdictions, troubles are nipped in the bud. Waiting for trouble to come before security forces are called in to quell the trouble is not the best as far as security management is concerned. A word to the wise is not only enough but also in the North where I come from.

Eric Bawah