The 2022 Zekula Festival will come off on 16th April, the Bissa Development Association (BDA) has confirmed.
It comes after a huge endorsement from the Office of the Bissa Lemagan, which is the highest decision making body of the BDA.
After consulting the Lemagan, Mr. Dominic Sori Payida, the National Executives Committee (NEC) has been given the green light to commence processes towards the organisation of one of the biggest festivals in the Northern part of the country.
“Good morning fellow Kinsmen and women, the Office of the Lemagan has approved NEC’s decision to celebrate Zekula 2022 on Saturday 16th April, 2022 in Kulungungu, said a statement issued by the BDA on Tuesday 18th January.
“NEC is to liaise with the Local Organizing Committee and other relevant stakeholders to commence processes towards a successful Zekula.”
Zekula, which means, unity in the Bissa dialect is a festival initiated in the year 2000 by the leaders of the Bissa Ethnic group led by the Bissa Study Group. It was supported by many prominent sons and daughters of Bissa, including the late Madam Hawa Yakubu aka “Iron Lady “.
Zekula bounces back after two years pause following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 editions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival, held annually, has always been a mammoth event that unified hundreds of thousands of Bissas across the country and brought the Bissa tradional hometown of Kulungugu into prominence.
It has also attracted other neighbors such as the Mamprusis, Kusasis and the Grunsis unto one venue to exhibit diverse cultural skills, make merry and further solidify their unity as one people with a common destiny of living together in peace.
Amid the ongoing tension between our neighbors, the Mamprusis and Kusasis, this year’s Zekula presents an opportunity to preach peace and unite not only Bissas, but all their neighbors.
Speaking to Bissa newsline, the BDA Chairman Alhaji Shaibu Musa Guatare, Zanni noted that “Bissas and all citizens of Bawku have a role to play to make Bawku a city that flows with milk and honey and not one littered with corpses and blood”.
“Long Live the BDA, Long Live Bawku Bissa Woo, Bissa Zekula N’Panga,” he added.
Story by Abdul Malik Guerm
Follow the writer on both Twitter and Instagram @malikalmaestro