John Akanvariyuei Agandin

Bulsa Pomp and Pageantry on Display in Accra

Second Edition of Bulsa Cultural Festival

 

 

Introduction and Theme

The second edition of the Bulsa Cultural Festival in Accra came off on 5th October 2019 at the Kawukudi Park. The event, which is organized by the Bulukbisa Club is intended to bring Bulsa within Accra and its environs together, to promote cultural identity and to contribute to the development of their homeland, Buluk. This year’s celebration was on the theme: Mobilizing to improve education in Buluk. As a result, a fund raising activity was carried out to raise money to support educational infrastructure in the Bulsa North and South districts. This year’s celebration attracted an even larger crowd than the maiden edition. The presence of many political figures, especially the former President and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the upcoming 2020 elections, attracted even more people to the venue. About 7000 – 8000 people attended the celebration.

Change of Date

This year’s event was in many respects a huge improvement over the maiden edition. At the request of the President of the Bulsa Traditional Council and Overlord of Buluk, Nab Azagsuk Ayieta Azantilow II, the celebration came off in October instead of March. The Overlord had suggested this change at a meeting with leaders of the Bulukbisa Club in February 2019 in the hope that the event would serve as a precursor to the Bulsa Feok Festival which typically comes off in December.

Activities for the Day

● War Dance procession (goinang chelim): There was a procession of war dancers from Club 100 (near Kwame Nkrumah Circle) to the durbar grounds. During the Feok festival in Sandema, this procession usually takes place from the Palace to the Sandema market before the war dancers break up.

● Cultural Music display:

There were several Bulsa Cultural Drumming and Dance Troupes beside the war dancers. Notable ones included Chuchuliga, Kanjarga, Wiaga, and Dynamic Ladies among others.
○ The Chuchuliga dancers were notable for their Kassena dance style. The presence of a talented amputee dancer, really caught the attention of the crowd and the dignitaries.

○ The Kanjarga group distinguished themselves in being led by a man in typical Bulsa apparel. He was attired with a ‘gang’ golung (triangular cloth in the traditional smock colours: blue and white), a tangkalung (leather apron), nakarisa (sandals), a zu-yuok (straw hat) and a taduk (walking stick). Social media has since been awash with photos of him (see photo)
○ The Dynamic Ladies drumming troupe won accolades with their skills at drumming. The group led the chiefs and traditional rulers to the dais amid drumming and dancing with gingana (cylindrical drums – sing. gingaung). It was a rare and beautiful sight to see women elegantly dressed and yet hanging drums over their shoulders and not only playing, but singing along. The group is the brain child of the indefatigable Mrs. Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia.

○ The Wiaga drumming and dancing troupe also caught the attention of the crowd with about four elders dressed in flamboyant ceremonial regalia (smock, traditional trousers, kurik-koluk) and zag-vieung (larger smock) leading the dance troupe with graceful steps. They also had four young female dancers who treated the crowd to two spectacular Bulsa dances: Nagela and Naperigaung.

 

● Auction of the Festival Brochure and Appeal for funds to support education in Buluk in accordance with the theme for the celebration. This event was led by the former Honourable Member of Parliament for Bulsa North, Mrs. Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia. Though the total amount raised has not yet been disclosed, it is on record that the former President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama bought a copy of the brochure for one thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 1000.00) and later pledged ten thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 10,000.00) to support the purchase of school furniture. It had leaked out that the organizers intended to use the money to purchase dual desks for some schools. The former president promised to send the money through Dr. Clement Apaak. Dr. Apaak also bought a copy for one thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 1,000.00). The Upper East Regional Minister, who travelled all the way from Bolgatanga to Accra to witness the festival, bought a copy of the brochure for GHC 500.00 and donated GHC 2,000 to the project.

● War dancing : This year’s celebration was spiced by war dancers from Chuchuliga. This crop of dancers were notably younger and with a different style of war dancing (Some communities in Buluk are typically noted for certain styles of the lielik dance e.g. Wiesi, Bachongsa, Chuchuliga etc.  However, the majority of the dancers were not in full regalia. The notable omissions were the logta (quivers with the hides of different domestic and wild animals as well as shrines) burden usually slung over the shoulder), and the saba-gata (dyed smocks sewn over with charms). Several war dancers wore plain smocks with the zuchiak (war helmet). A few of them, however, did turn out in curious full regalia that excited on-lookers.

● Invited Guests and Dignitaries: This year’s celebration was further spiced by several dignitaries across the political and traditional leadership including:

○ Four chiefs and two queen mothers from the Bulsa Traditional Council

○ The Registrar of the Traditional Land Scretariat, Sandema

○ Chief of Igbo in Ghana (the Igbo are an ethnic group in Nigeria)

○ The Upper East Regional Minister (Hon. Mrs Paulina Abayage)

○ The District Chief Executive for Bulsa South (Hon. Daniel Kwame Gariba)

○ The Honourable Member of Parliament for Bulsa South (Dr. Clement Apaak)

○ Former Honourable Member of Parliament for Bulsa North (Mrs Agnes Asangalisah Chigabatia – who was also a member of the Organizing Committee)

○ His Excellency Former President John Dramani Mahama

○ The Guest Speaker was Mr. Maurice Abisa Seidu

● Speeches: Speeches were made by the representative of the Bulsa Traditional Council, the MP for Bulsa South (Dr. Clement Apaak), the Upper East Regional Minister (Madam Paulina Abayage), and Former President John Dramani Mahama. The common theme running through all the speeches was that the cultural celebration was a timely and useful event to mobilize for development. The representative of the Traditional Council praised the efforts of the organizers and announced that they have the blessings of the traditional council. He called on  the Bulsa in Accra to unite around the celebration in order to contribute their quota to the development of Buluk. The Politicians (the regional minister and former president) praised the Bulukbisa Club and all Bulsa in Accra for the initiative. They enumerated the steps taken by their political parties whilst in government (NPP and NDC respectively) to address the educational development difficulties of the Bulsa districts but called for support from all Bulsa at home and

elsewhere. The theme of the celebration, ‘Mobilizing to improve education in Buluk’, was loudly applauded by the speakers. The former president recounted the historical defeat of Babatu by the Bulsa and said the war dance was a beautiful memorial of a proud history. The regional minister implored Bulsa to use their proud and rich culture as a springboard for development. She commended the executives of the Bulukbisa Club for the initiative and called on all to support the effort to unite through culture to support education in Buluk.

 

● Exhibition of Bulsa Cultural Materials: The Bulsa Heritage and Cultural Society exhibited a couple of Bulsa cultural materials. Some of them included the war helmets (zuchaasa), saba-gata (saba-smocks), bangles and finger rings (bangsa and nifelima), calabashes (china), a triangular loin cloth (golung), armulets (poali), waist strings (chiak miisa), fiber apron (vaata), fiber (bogta), sling (vising), carrying pad (tulik), gourd (leng), cloth caps (garuk-geli zutoksa), transverse clarinets (paampuunta), kayagsa rattles and guinea fowl eggs (kpan-jena).

In addition, there were also a couple of print-outs of research articles on Bulsa history by Dr. Franz Kröger and a poetry collection by John Agandin. About six different articles and seven copies of previous editions of BULUK (Journal of Bulsa Culture and Society) were exhibited. The articles were distributed for free whilst the journal copies were only for viewing. Thirty copies of John Agandin’s Book: ‘The Adventures of Asuom’ were also sold. This year, the society introduced a donations box to solicit for support from those who visit the table. A total of one hundred and twenty six Ghana Cedis, fifty pesewas (GHC 126.50) was collected.

As usual, the exhibition table was a major source of attraction throughout the event. Many men came to try the transverse clarinets (paampuunta) and were astonished that they had ‘forgotten’ how to make music with these popular instruments. It was much the same with the women and the kayagsa rattles though quite a few really played well. The guinea fowl eggs turned out to be quite a curiosity, more than initially thought. Several persons (especially non-Bulsa and the media persons) were shocked that they could not easily break a ‘common’ egg. The looks on their faces after failing to break the guinea fowl eggs even in both hands were priceless. Many were also drawn to the saba-smocks and the horned helmets. Even women requested to try them on and take photographs (the saba-smocks are typically worn by men).
Interestingly however, fewer copies of the Bulsa history and other print-outs were distributed than was achieved in Sandema during the Feok festival in December 2018. Though only about 10 copies of each article was printed, there were still several undistributed copies at the end of the day whilst in Sandema, about 25 – 30 copies each were printed and nearly all were given out. Some Bulsa material objects being exhibited by the BHCS during the event

● Music Fiesta: As part of this year’s celebration, there was a plan by the Exhibition and Entertainment Committee to showcase both traditional and contemporary musicians of Bulsa origin to perform either in Buli or other languages after the durbar. One very energetic young musician did perform during the durbar to the admiration of all. He sang in Buli and executed some Bulsa dances in very acrobatic fashion to wide applause (see photo below). However, the major music fiesta which was scheduled to come off that evening could not come off. A host of Bulsa artistes and one popular Ghanaian artiste who were billed to perform could not do so. It is not immediately clear why the event could not come off though early impressions point to some miscommunication between the parties involved. Nevertheless, the teaming youth were entertained by the aforementioned drumming and dancing troupes who played their hearts out long into the night.

Matters Arising

All in all, the event was a much anticipated and eventually largely successful celebration. However, even before the dust settled, many questions have been raised especially on social media (especially Facebook and WhatsApp platforms). A few of these concerns deserve mention in the hope that the celebration can be strengthened and improved.
● The first of the criticisms concerns the staging of a Bulsa cultural event, which contains aspects of the Bulsa Feok festival, outside Buluk. This criticism was most fierce last year when the organizers had dubbed the celebration: ‘Builsa Feok, Accra Chapter’. The name was widely condemned to the point of calling it a ‘sacrilege’. This led to further discussions with the Overlord of Buluk and president of the Bulsa Traditional Council, Nab Azagsuk Azantilow II in February 2019. At this meeting in which this writer was present, the Lord of Buluk sided with the critics and asked the organizers to continue the celebration under a different name. He promised to send a delegation to the event and intimated that he would in future attend himself. He also suggested hosting the celebration between August and October to serve as a precursor to the Feok celebrations in December. Despite these efforts by the organizers to allay the fears of their critics, this year’s event still suffered some level of criticism before and after with some even questioning the timing (even after being told that the Overlord had desired it so). The fears and criticisms are generally with good intentions and contain points that both the organizers of the Accra event and the Feok organizing committee in Sandema can learn to improve both events and to prevent the Accra event from strangling the main festival in Sandema. However, some of the critics were also too inflexible to the point of being intolerant and cynical, expressing their criticisms sometimes in unprintable language and refusing to take the explanations and reasons proffered by those who felt otherwise.
● The second criticism has been directed towards a purported skewed political representation at the 2019 celebration. Politics always seem to divide the Bulsa, especially on social media. Just as the presence of political colours at Feok 2018 in Sandema drew sharp criticisms from one side of the political divide, so did the invited guests at Bulsa Cultural Festival in Accra. This time, the criticism was from supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who felt that the organizers were biased and invited more people from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) than the NPP. This was more so because of the presence of the former president, His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, who is challenging the sitting president in next year’s elections. Also, both Dr. Clement Apaak and the former president were given slots to speak at the durbar whilst on the other side of the divide, only the regional minister was given the chance to speak whilst even the chief executive of the Builsa South district was not accorded such courtesy.

Whilst these criticisms at face value appear to have merit, they can easily be explained. All the three former presidents (Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kuffour and John Dramani Mahama) as well as the current Vice President, Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia were invited to the celebration. The representatives of the Bulsa in Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak and Lawyer James Agalga and the two chief executive officers of the Bulsa districts, were invited as well as the Upper East regional minister. It certainly is not the doing of the organizers that both of the MPs for Buluk are of the opposition party nor that the former president travels with a large entourage of party executives and communicators. This must be understood without prejudice. Also, as a presidential candidate, he is certainly more popular than the regional minister and so drew loud cheers from the crowd. Some have sought to suggest that his coming was at the behest of Dr. Clement Apaak, but this is also untrue. He was directly invited. Nevertheless, Bulsa were the better for his coming as he contributed more to the fund raising than any other person (assuming his pledge is redeemed).

As to whether the chief executive of the Bulsa South district could not have been allowed to speak, I have suggested in my report on the Bulsa Feok 2018 that it would not be possible to make room for all politicians to speak at every Bulsa event. Whilst I still stand by that, I also think that since this event was outside Buluk and Mr. Daniel Kwame Gariba the only administrator of a Bulsa area in attendance, he should have been given a few minutes to say a word. This is clearly an oversight from the organizers and may be attributed to the fact that the DCE was in the company of the regional minister whose entire speech was centred on education in Buluk. Nevertheless, the occasion has served to confirm what some had feared during Feok 2018; that the infusion of politics into our cultural celebrations tend to leave others bitter and offended and all attempts must be made to eliminate or minimize it. Strictly speaking, however, what has been termed ‘party politics’ at the Accra event was merely a coincidence and I urge those on the other side of the political divide to end the beating of war drums and let us celebrate our collective success whilst charting a course for future success.

Pomp and Pageantry at the Durbar (Pictures)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVENT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

FUND RAISING
Seth Alafa
Anthony Akabong-Toak
Hon. Agnes Chigabatia
Adem Gariba
Hon. Norbert Awulley
Bismarck Azeboka
Sofo Ali-Akpajiak
DSP Adamu

GROUNDS AND SECURITY
Captain Dickson Agalga
DSP Kwaku Adamu
DSP Atongnab
Joel Asor
Kwesi Kantinka
Abem Samuel
Major Bukari
Baba Akanpaacharuk
Dennis Brown Ayimonsa
Gaeten
Pius Ayoung
Kwaku Abarika
Castro
Prince (Youth Chief)

MEDIA AND PUBLICITY
Simon Agianab
Winston Afoko (Slim Atigsi-Badek)
Hon. Agnes Chigabatia
Raymond Agalga
Simon Ajabui
Kwesi Amoak
Samuel Ajibta

WELFARE AND PROTOCOL
SWO Martin Amoak
Augustina Ayaribisa
Hon. Agnes Chigabatia
Patricia Agyiiro
Natalia (Police woman)
Clementia Asogyi
Vivian Akom

EXHIBITION AND ENTERTAINMENT
John Agandin
Hon. Agnes Chigabatia
Agnes Abolimbok
Stephen Azong (Ayiila-moak)
Winston Afoko (Slim Badek)
Simon Agianab

ADMINISTRATIVE AND COORDINATION
Adem Gariba
Seth Alafa
Anthony Akabon-Toak
Capt James Agalga
Francis Amoasa
Winston Afoko (Slim Atigsi-Badek)

Copyright of Photos
All photos were taken by Slim Atigsi-Badek (aka Winston Afoko). We thank him for granting his permission to print and upload his excellent photos. Those marked “sv-mediagh” (Savanna Multimedia Ghana) were provided by this media organisation, also run by Atigsi-Badek.

• Contents of BULUK 12
• Editorial
• Events
• Who on Earth is interested in the Bulsa?
• Discussions in the Facebook Group “BULUK KANIAK”
• New Published and Unpublished Studies on Bulsa Culture
• The Sights, Sounds and Glitter of Feok 2018
• Report on BHCS Exhibition of Bulsa Material Objects at Feok 2018 in Sandema
• Bulsa Pomp and Pageantry
• John A. Agandin: Two Poems
• The Medical System of the Bulsa
• List of Plants for Medicine and Other Purposes
• Dental Health – the next lifestyle disease?
• Free surgical procedures by Dr. Benjamin Akinkang’s Team of Hope
• Ambulance not on the Road: A Disgrace to Health Care for Buluk
• Management of Perceived Malaria Infections in Children among Bulsa Mothers