Hogbetsotso-Za 2020 postponed due to COVID-19

Press releases for Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Source: The Hogbe Institute

2020-09-22

The Hogbe Institute, has adhered to the postponement of this year’s Hogbetsotso-Za Anlo after consulting with the Local Organizing Committee of the annual festival.

The postponement, which is due to public health and safety concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country earlier this year, is also supported by the Anlo Youth Council, the Chiefs Congress. and the Traditional Council of Anlo.

In accepting the recommendations of the Hogbe Institute Functional Executives, the Chairman of the Board, Togbi Agbesi Awusu II, Awadada of Anlo and the Board of Directors, they considered the enormous challenge of enforcing the existing Covid-19 protocols established by the government to protect to the citizens. in Hogbetsotso, which attracts tens of thousands of citizens and foreigners.

The Hogbe Institute, therefore, announces for the information of all Anles, residents and non-residents, festival lovers and the general public, that this year’s celebration has effectively been canceled.

As regrettable as it may be, the Institute considers it a matter of national interest to advance the opportunity for the virus to spread in our fragile ecosystem.

In announcing the decision, Hogbe Institute Executive Director Dr. Kwashie Kuwor said the decision was made in Anlo’s best interest and was reached after careful consultations with all stakeholders.

The Hogbe Institute first assumed responsibility as the main organizer of the Hogbetsotso Festival in 2018 under the motto “Strengthening our cultural capital: Uniting in Commonwealth and Resolve”.

This was in an attempt to explore Anlo’s bodies of knowledge, values ​​and virtues embedded in the festival and to determine how these bodies of knowledge could be harnessed and used holistically, as a tool for economic empowerment and eradication of poverty.

According to Dr. Kuwor, “Hogbe’za 2019, the second Hogbe Institute event, won the prestigious Festival of the Year Award in the Volta region and 2020 was heralded as a markedly improved and marketable celebration than any other in the history of the festival, but for the pandemic ”.

He expressed his gratitude to the key sponsors, especially the MTN flagship sponsors, who have kept faith in the festival over the years and said that “next year’s celebration will greatly contribute to everyone’s interest.”

Dr. Kuwor emphasized that “the new organizational and planning structure will bring socio-economic development to Anlo in multiple ways while ensuring accountability and transparency of all Hogbe Institute activities.”

He also took the opportunity to encourage all the other former Hogbetsotso-Za organizers to share their rich experience with the institute for the public good. “

He urged festival sponsors and citizens to support the Institute’s work by contributing their quota while strengthening the festival’s structures and systems for inclusion. “Hogbe’za is a unique festival owned by all of Anlo as a public good,” he concluded.