The President of the Central Planning Committee for the 2025 Hogbetsotso Festival, Mr Kenneth Edzordzinam Kpedor, has urged the chiefs, elders, and citizens of Anlo, both at home and abroad, to transform the spirit of the Hogbetsotso Festival into a practical movement of unity, discipline, and development.
Delivering his keynote address titled “Welcome Home” during the festival’s grand celebration in Anloga, Mr Kpedor described Hogbetsotso as more than a festival of dance and pageantry, calling it “a living bridge between memory and destiny.” He encouraged all Anlos to draw strength from their collective history to shape a shared future.
“In the rhythm of the tide, in the whisper of the wind across the Keta Lagoon, and in the ancient echoes from Notsie to Anloga, a people remember. People rise,” he said. “Hogbe is not merely a festival, it is a sacred song passed from elder to youth, a living drumbeat of memory, identity, and aspiration.”
From Tradition to Transformation
Mr Kpedor explained that this year’s theme, “Building Bridges: From a Common History to a Common Destiny”, captures both the soul and strategy of the Anlo people’s journey. He said the Anlo identity, forged through migration, endurance, and vision, must now evolve into a model for unity and development.
“This is a festival of spirit and strategy,” he declared. “A dance of culture and development, a moment where tradition meets transformation, and our youth inherit not only heritage, but vision.”
He urged the Anlo community to see Hogbetsotso as a collective call to action, stressing that the greatness awaiting Anlo “is not a dream, but a possibility ready to be realised if only we choose to stand together.”
A Call for Collective Renewal
Mr Kpedor noted that the bridges the people of Anlo must build go beyond geography or ceremony; they must connect generations, traditions, and the diaspora, ensuring that the wisdom of elders meets the innovation of youth.
“No traditional area can stand alone, no clan can walk forward in isolation, and no generation can flourish without the other,” he said. “The bridges we must build are not only between lands and lagoons, but between the past and the future, between tradition and innovation, between youth and elders, between home and diaspora.”
He described Hogbetsotso 2025 as a symbolic bridge linking the ancient values of the Anlo State, discipline, tact, and solidarity, with modern aspirations of education, enterprise, and cooperation.
“We are a people shaped by migration, not as wanderers, but as seekers of liberty, order, and purpose,” he reflected. “We are the children of wisdom and tact, taught to resolve before we rebel, to build before we boast, and to lead with a quiet strength that binds clans and builds nations.”
Culture as Compass, Unity as Duty
Mr Kpedor said the 2025 edition of Hogbetsotso was designed not merely as an event but as a “map of meaning,” blending cultural celebration with strategic development.
He explained that every aspect of the festival, from the Ohawu Grand Launch to the educational and youth-focused programmes, was curated to remind the Anlo people that heritage must guide innovation.
“This brochure is your compass,” he said. “Within these pages, you will find not just a schedule of events, but a bridge from the past we revere to the future we must build together.”
He emphasised that the real success of Hogbetsotso lies in its ability to unite the Anlo people beyond boundaries, transforming cultural pride into civic progress.
“This is a moment where the youth inherit not only heritage, but vision,” he said. “As you turn these pages, may you feel the heartbeat of Anlo, see your reflection in the faces of our people, and walk with us, not just to celebrate, but to create.”
A Festival of Memory and Mission
As the festival’s activities unfolded across Anloga and surrounding communities, Mr Kpedor’s message resonated deeply with the overarching theme of the 2025 celebration — that the Anlo story is still being written and every generation has a role in shaping it.
He concluded his address with a heartfelt appeal for unity, purpose, and collaboration.
“Welcome to Hogbe 2025. Welcome to our story. Welcome to your place in history,” he affirmed, drawing applause from a crowd moved by both pride and reflection.
Background: The Enduring Legacy of Hogbetsotso
The Hogbetsotso Festival — meaning “Festival of Exodus” — commemorates the legendary escape of the Ewe people from Notsie in present-day Togo to their new home in Anloga, Ghana. It is celebrated each year with drumming, dancing, reconciliation, and thanksgiving to honour the ancestors who turned adversity into freedom.
The Anlo Dukor (Anlo State) remains a federation of traditional areas led by the Awoamefia, supported by the Awadada, queen mothers, and a council of sub-chiefs. Through the festival, the Anlo people reaffirm their shared identity, discipline, and unity — principles that continue to inspire Ghana’s cultural and developmental vision.
Under the leadership of Mr Kenneth Edzordzinam Kpedor and the Central Planning Committee, Hogbetsotso 2025 has evolved into not just a festival of remembrance but a platform for education, enterprise, and empowerment.
It is, in Mr Kpedor’s own words, “a bridge from a proud history to a purposeful destiny.”