Ghanaian Independence Day

Flying drumsticks on Ghanaian Independence Day

Last week, Ghana turned 57. The first Subsaharan African nation to gain independence, Ghana was led to freedom in 1957 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

This year, I celebrated Ghanaian Independence Day by.... you guessed it... drumming. Attah and I woke up at 4:00 am to play Kete at the funeral of the former Nswumankwahene's (chief of the small Gods) wife. After the 4:00 am wakekeeping, we rushed to Jubilee Park to join the Centre for National Culture and perform for Kumasi's Official independence Day celebration, complete with chiefs, government officials, military bands, police displays, and more. I managed to squeeze in a 20 minute nap before heading back to close the day playing Fontomfrom at the same funeral we started the day with.