Rabbi Cohen Alivi, Executive Secretary of the Panafest Foundation, has reminded Africans of the need to be proud of their heritage, and work hard to advance its growth and development.
He said our ancestors shed their blood and lives as sacrifice for the emancipation of the African continent, and that the time has come for people to exhort the virtue of self-sacrifice for the benefit of society.
Rabbi Alivi said this at the launch of the 2014 Kuntum Festival, under the theme: �Celebrating the Spirit of Self Sacrifice, �by Nana Kobina Nketsia the sixth Trust at Sekondi in the Western Region.
He said: �be proud of the African Region, and celebrate its culture, language and dance as a divine gift of God.�#
Rabbi Alivi criticized Africans for bleaching their skins to look like the whites, as well as the use of the social media to influence everything that was African.
He advised the youth to be wary of this approach to westernize the African society.
Nana Bozza the ninth of Akatakyie Ahanta, recounted that Kuntum traces the history of a festival of plenty harvest, and that it was instituted some hundred years ago when one hunter by name Akyen, had an encounter with some dwarfs on one of his usual escapades.
He said the hunter at one time of hunting, became tired and decided to rest by a palm tree in the forest where he saw some dwarfs making merry.
Nana Bozza added that the hunter was then invited to share in the celebration and was given a portion of the meal to be distributed among the community members of Akobi Kor Aboadze where he lived.
The hunter, according to the chief, then made it a yearly affair where food and drinks were distributed and used as a time for reconciliation.
The Kuntum Festival is usually celebrated between August and September each year, when there are lots of fish and foodstuffs.
Nana Kobina Nketsia the fifth, Omanhene of the Essikado Traditional Area, reminded Ghanaians that no foreigner would come and develop the country for us, and that Ghanaians must be committed to building a better nation for themselves.
The Paramount Chief, therefore, entreated all and sundry to develop that spirit of self sacrifice, and avoid corrupt tendencies that had derailed the country�s development.
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