My culture, My heritage.

Culture has many discussions pertaining to how it developed. Some earliest account have been traced to Herodotus, a Greek Historian. He wrote about the cultural and racial diversity of the Middle East and surrounding parts of Asia and Africa while he traveled through the Persian Empire. His findings was linked to the difference in people's geographical location. For almost 2000 years following the time of Herodetus, many people attributed culture and its diversity to racial inheritance, others to the biblical account of the Tower of Babel where God caused people to speak in different tongues. The word 'culture'  came into use in the middle ages, derived from the latin word for cultivation .Originally it referred to people's role in controlling nature but today it can be discussed in a broader sense.

Culture generally refers to lifestyle of a particular people or society. It differs from people to people. Culture is not inherited but man-made; it evolves as humans respond to the local and biological environment for the purpose of living. However, its expressed in both material and non-material form; a case in point is with the different types of food consumed by a group of people, clothing worn, body decoration, visual arts and symbols also language, philosophical thought, morals beliefs and rituals respectively. It should be noted that culture is not static but dynamic.

 Culture was created by the various ethnic groups as they settled and saw the need to have a source of identity. In Ghana, over 100 linguistics and ethnic groups have been identified. These groups have been categorised into two major linguistics families; the Kwa and Gur. The Kwa speakers by tradition are associated with areas South of the Volta and its major subset or group is the Akan people ie, the Akuapem, Akyem, Bono, Fanti among others. The Nzima's, Ga's, Gonja's, Adangbe and Ewe are all part of the Kwa family. The Gur linguistics family are mostly found in the North areas with its principal Gur language as Dagbane and its major groups as Dagombas and Mamprusi people

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Indeed it is evident that culture is a strong  tool to be used to foster national development. In view of this, the 1992 constitution of Ghana in chapter 6, article 39 subsection 1,2,3,4 talk about the essence of culture. It is the duty ot the state to preserve and protect places of historical and cultural interest. Due to the importance of culture in Ghana, on the list of of stakeholders, prominence is given to the National House of Chiefs because of their role to preserve and transform culture.

Culture and the very best of traditions must be preserved and passed unto various generations to come.  As Ghanaians we must take pride in our culture and be good agents for championing culture, for it is our culture and our heritage.