Togo/ Celebrating Kpessosso: The sacred stone that guides the guins’hope towards a new year
The closing of the traditional Epé-Ekpé festivities on Thursday symbolised the start of the New Year for the Guins, a people scattered across the southern regions of Togo, Benin and Ghana. This ancient celebration, known as Kpessosso, is of great cultural importance to this community.
At the heart of this celebration is the taking of the sacred stone, a symbolic ritual that foretells the future of the New Year.
The stone, located in the Avegbatsoe sanctuary in Glidji, is a cream-coloured omen of peace, prosperity, fertility and social harmony for the Guin.
It embodies the hope of a year to come marked by success and unity.
Having fled the ravages of war, the Guins established their community in the middle of the 17th century at Glidji, near Lake Togo, where they set up their kingdom under the leadership of King Foli Bébé.
Kpessosso is much more than just a New Year’s celebration; it is also an opportunity for the Guins to come together and promote their unique cultural identity.
The ceremony attracted the attention of many prominent figures, including several members of the government, as well as the French ambassador, Augustin Favereau.
This participation illustrates the importance of Kpessosso in preserving and celebrating Guin culture, and in strengthening links between local and international communities.
The traditional Epé-Ekpé festival and the Kpessosso ritual are precious moments for the Guins, symbolising the hope of a prosperous and peaceful year to come, while reinforcing their attachment to their ancestral cultural heritage.
Kodjovi Makafui
