The Oguaa Traditional Council on Tuesday resolved to arrest and punish anyone who would dress indecently during this year’s Fetu Afahye Festival and other major celebrations because the phenomenon was having a negative toll on society.
According to the chiefs, indecent dressing was tantamount to indecent exposure and this has brought in its trail, teenage pregnancies and other social vices resulting in low standards of
education in the area.
The council said it would require the collective efforts of all family heads, parents, teachers, opinion leaders as well as the media
to combat it.
Nana Kow Ackon, Chairman of the “Fetu Afahye” Planning Committee, was briefing journalists and media practitioners on the activities lined up for the launch of the Festival on Friday, May 20. Nana Kow Ackon V,
He bemoaned the level of indecency in the area during major festive occasions and pointed out that it was an indictment on the integrity of chiefs if they failed to address the situation.
Nana Kow Ackon, who is also the Twaafohene of Oguaa, asked “so called human rights activists” to stay clear off for the Council to
help check that practice “which was eating into the moral fabric of the society at a fast rate”.
He said the Traditional Council was in this regard, coming out with bye-laws that will ban provocative dressing, particularly among
the youth and stressed that the most worrying trend was how young men expose their underpants and girls expose their breasts in public, “it
is not part of our culture and we will not accept that” Nana Ackon declared.
Nana Kwame Adu VI, Tufuhen of the area, warned that a nation without a tradition had no future and called for the restoration of
libation pouring at public functions because it was not fetish as is being claimed in some quarters but just in remembrance of “our
forefathers”.
He reiterated calls on parents to train their children well and ensure that they were disciplined, dressed properly, stay away from
alcoholic drinks and ensure that they got home on time during festivals.
The media, he said, should collaborate with the chiefs and all stakeholders to educate the youth on the dangers of leading wayward lives and that they should make their studies their utmost priority.