MEPE Goes Orange As Part Of The 69th Afenorto Festival Celebrations

Chieftaincy, Tradition and Culture MEPE Goes Orange As Part Of The 69th Afenorto Festival Celebrations

MON, 11 AUG 2025

The 69th edition of the ever-cherished Mepe Afenorto Festival is being celebrated this year in grand style under the theme, “Unite for Peace and Development, Post VRA Akosombo-Dam Flood Disaster”.

The climax of the festival was a durbar of chiefs and people of Mepe held on Saturday, 9th August 2025 and it fell on an Agasigbe per the sacred/traditional calendar of Mepe. The guest of honor was His Excellency Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Ataokple, the Volta Region’s representative on the Council of State.

A number of MPs from other constituencies other than North Tongu also graced the occasion together with the Honourable DCE for North Tongu, Hon. Victoria Amefadzi Yawa Doe.

Mepe is one of 13 traditional areas in Tongu hence a delegation from the Tongu Chiefs Union was present at the durbar. The delegation of the Tongu Chiefs Union was led by its President, Togbega Kadzi Zoga II who is the Paramount Chief of Sokpoe Traditional Area.

The Mepe State is made up of five unique clans such as Dzagbaku, Adzigo, Sevie, Gbanvie and Akorvie which clans were cladded in their traditional colours such as white, green, yellow, red and blue respectively to and from the durbar.

In a welcome address on behalf of the Mepe Traditional Council, Torgbe Korsi Nego VI who is the Manklalo of the area and the next in seniority to the Paramount Chief highlighted the following:

This year’s celebration is preceded by an immense national tragedy that has struck our hearts. On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, Ghana lost eight distinguished sons in a devastating military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region. Mepe mourns with the nation and the bereaved families, hence all the chiefs and people are in black and red bands at the Afenorto Festival Durbar. May the gentle souls of the departed rest in peace.
We of Mepe congratulate our hardworking MP, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, on his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, by the President of the Republic.
We also congratulate Hon. Victoria Amefadzi Doe, a daughter of Mepe, on her elevation to the post of District Chief Executive of the North Tongu District Assembly. We are grateful to H. E. John Dramani Mahama for these appointments.
To our indefatigable Regional Minister, Hon. James Gunu, Mepe says congratulations.
To the people of Mepe, we cannot harness our financial, human, material and social resources for development without peace, trust, social harmony, and sacrifice, especially following the floods that devastated our land in 2023. Let us unite and reconcile with one another. It is through unity that we can attract development assistance to our traditional area.
Government is entreated to appropriately compensate the Mepe citizens who were victims of the 2023 VRA Akosombo-Dam Flood Disaster as most of these victims are not still homeless but also jobless. We have, however, become aware that the people-centred government of H. E. John Dramani Mahama has earmarked some funds to cater for the flood victims.
While we congratulate government for this well-thought-out plan, we humbly request a proper engagement with the chiefs and people to ensure that the fund serves its purpose. We anxiously await the timely disbursement of the compensation package.
Government should kindly consider the reconstruction of Sege-Battor-Mepe road, the Mepe-Dove and Aveyime-Dove roads that connect the main Accra-Aflao Road.
Mepe has built a Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institution in Mepe Dadome-Fakpoe through self-help efforts. The Institution, when fully operational, will provide hand-on skills to the teeming youth within and beyond the traditional area. This remarkable project was completed through the instrumentality of an illustrious and industrious son of Mepe, Emeritus Professor E.H.K. Akaho who is a Nuclear Scientist and Researcher and the former Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

As part of this year’s Mepe Afenorto Festival celebrations, a corporate brand called Tongu Global led by Mr. Famous Afeyetso organized a health walk from Mepe to Battor and back to Mepe, which most citizens of Mepe patronized heavily amidst singing and dancing to Jama songs. It was indeed a joyous event. Some of the chiefs such as Torgbe Korsi Nego VI (Manklalo) himself, Torgbe Kwao Sakpleka II, Torgbe Korbla Asamankueta IV, Mama Aku Seme II, Mama Awo Etseku IV and Torgbe Korbla Akagla IV (Sorhefie) had participated actively in the Afenorto Festival Health Walk. By this participatory gesture/leadership, the Chiefs have demonstrated poignantly that the welfare and wellness of their subjects must be one of the cardinal duties of royal leadersship, mindful of the trite assertion that economic development thrives on healthy human population. The next significant event as part of the Mepe Afenorto Festival Celebrations will be a competitive canoe regatta among the five Clans of Mepe and also among other identified social groupings today. However, the festivities continue until next week. On this note, I wish the people of the Mepe Traditional Area, a very peaceful celebration meant for self-help developmental projects. ~Asante Sana~

Philip Afeti Korto
Hospital Administrator
[email protected]

Philip Afeti Korto is a seasoned Public Administrator and a prolific writer. He is a professional and astute Health Service Administrator who has been practising for over a decade. He has worked as a Health Service Administrator in the Ghana Health Service for 15 years, where he managed Administrati. More Philip Afeti Korto is a seasoned Public Administrator. He is a professional and astute Hospital Administrator who has been practicing for over a decade. He has worked as a Hospital Administrator in the Ghana Health Service for 17years, where he managed Administration and Support Services at five different hospitals such as Ridge Hospital, Dangme East District, La General, Achimota Hospitals and Weija-Gbawe Municipal Hospital. His strengths are in management, public policy implementation and writing media articles. He has about 400 media publications and few academic publications to his credit with two of his book chapters listed on Amazon Books.
In 2020, he published a chapter entitled, “Managing Policies and Procedures in Healthcare Management” in book, “Health Service Marketing Management in Africa”. The book is listed on Amazon Books. Mr. Korto’s chapter is cited as “Korto, P.A. (2020). Managing Policies and Procedures in Healthcare Management. In Hinson, E.R., Osei-Frimpong, K., Adeola, O. & Aziato, L. Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (1 ed., pp. 225-242). New York: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC".

He is a prolific writer and a Columnist at www.modernghana.com, myjoyonline.com and www.ghanaweb.com as well as a regular publisher on healthcare matters in the Daily Graphic. He is not only a prolific writer but also an all-round writer who writes on different areas especially happenings in society and applying Biblical stories to real life situations. A significant number of his articles have led to solutions for some societal problems.

Philip Afeti Korto holds BSc. Administration (Health Service Administration option) from University of Ghana Business School (UGBS). He also holds a Master of Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He occasionally gives practical lectures at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) upon invitation.

He is an outstanding member of the Association of Health Service Administrators, Ghana (AHSAG). He has published numerous practical articles in the Health Service Manager, the official journal of AHSAG. In November 2019, AHSAG awarded Mr. Korto in recognition of his incessant and significant contributions to the cause and course of the Association.

He takes delight in training up and coming Public Administrators especially trainee Health Service Administrators and students pursuing Health Service Administration. Mr. Korto has trained about 80 Houseman Health Service Administrators.

With the foregoing rich experience, he joined the Board of Directors of the Mepe Area Rural Bank PLC in January 2024 as a non-executive Director and he serves as a member of the Board’s operational committee responsible for Administration and Operations. On the Board, he has been very instrumental in decision-making and implementation.
Column: Philip Afeti Korto

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MEPE Goes Orange As Part Of The 69th Afenorto Festival Celebrations

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