A file photo of Waakye
Throughout the month of March, deliberate effort was made to educate Ghanaians about the need to know their roots and learn from the past to finetune the future, so far as culture is concerned.
To this end, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku Mantey has pointed out that Ghana will not sell globally, "if indigenous goods are not cherished.”
He said it was critical for the country and its people to have confidence in locally manufactured products.
“We cannot sell to the outsider if we are not proud of ourselves. What are we going to sell”?
"We should begin to have confidence in the Ghanaian language and the Ghanaian food. I think the Ghana Waakye has changed,” as he laments how food has been Europeanized.
Touching on the media, he was not comfortable with the way they pronounce certain words on air.
While encouraging the media to learn to pronounce indigenous names correctly, the Deputy Tourism Minister applauded the originator of the Heritage month saying that it is a good initiative.
“I do know who started it but I think it’s a good thing. But I knew it started from the media but I do not know who. We can only reinforce it and make it bigger”, Mark Okraku Mantey pointed out.
He spoke with Kafui Dey on GBC’s re-branded program, GTV Breakfast Show.