By: Henrietta Afful
The vibrant and historic Asafotufiam Festival is all set to dazzle once again, as the chiefs and people of Ada in the Greater Accra Region prepare for the grand durbar of the 2025 edition. Marking its 88th celebration, this year’s festival promises a spectacular display of Ada’s rich cultural heritage, centered around the theme: “Peace, Unity and Justice: The Pillars of Our Progress.”
The durbar is the festival’s centerpiece, featuring the firing of musketry by warrior groups known as the Asafotu, in remembrance of the Ada people’s ancestral battles. Traditionally, this act honours the bravery of warriors past and reaffirms the community’s identity.
The celebrations begin in the first week of August and continue through the following week.
A key feature of the festival is the initiation of young men into the Asafotu warrior companies, where they are taught traditional warfare techniques. The Paramount Chief of Ada, along with sub-chiefs, queen mothers, and ten clans, will lead the colourful procession, offering prayers, speeches, and cultural displays.
On Sacred Friday, marked yesterday, August 1, 2025, clan leaders visited the sacred grounds to swear an oath of allegiance to the ancestors—especially the warlords whose courage helped the Ada people secure a homeland.
Sunday will be marked by a community-wide open-air church service, followed by a week of activities including beach parties, boat races, river excursions, and football matches, drawing in both locals and the diaspora.
President John Dramani Mahama is expected as the Special Guest of Honour, alongside the Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Mr Samuel Nartey George among other dignitaries.
The 2025 Asafotufiami Festival is more than just a celebration—it’s a powerful homecoming and a reaffirmation of peace, unity, and justice in Ada’s forward march forward.
BACKGROUND
Back in the days, when tribes used to fight each other and claim territories, when tribes had to defend themselves in order to survive. The people of Ada mostly found themselves defending to survive, due to their size. In a bid to establish their territory, they fought notable battles like: the Katamanso war, the Glover war, the Battle of Nonobe and many more.
As the wars became frequent, rituals were put in place to welcome their brave soldiers and war heroes back home. Some of these rituals included foot washing and the firing of muskets to announce their arrival.
In the 1900s, there were no wars to be fought or attacks from other tribes, thus the rituals performed to welcome the brave soldiers were abolished as they were no longer needed. The people however still felt the need to put in place a festival to celebrate their soldiers, ancestors and past chiefs who all contributed to the successful establishment of Ada. This paved the way for the establishment of the Asafotufiam as a replacement for the welcoming rituals performed for returning soldiers.
Asafotufiam is a word derived from Asafotufiami which in Dangme can be translated as “Shooting Muskets by a Group”, meaning a group of soldiers practicing or demonstrating how to shoot muskets.
The name Asafo-to-fiam consists of three words. “Asafo” means “warriors”, “to” means “muskets or old guns”, and “fiam” also means “shoot”.
It is celebrated annually by the people of Ada who are part of the Gadangme tribe located in the southern part of Ghana.
During the festival, people dress up as warriors and reenact historical battles to show their military strength, firing muskets (old guns) is a big part of the festival, symbolizing the return of warriors from battle, the chief and clan leaders lead parades and elders perform special rituals during the festival. This brings together the Ada community, including those who live far away, to celebrate their culture and history.
The festival features traditional music, drumming, food and dancing, thereby showcasing the rich culture of the Ada people.
