Why should ‘Yoo ke Gari’ now be called ‘Gobe’ – Ayikoi Otoo fumes

“The name of my favourite food: ‘Yoo ke gari’, to wit beans and gari in the Ga language, has all of a sudden been turned into gobe,” he worried.

“Changing the local name for this staple food is dangerous,” he said.

The former diplomat expressed his displeasure with the evolution of the name for the food speaking on Accra-based Joy FM’s 6:00 am news on Friday, April 14, 2023.

He argued that this portends great danger for the country.

“Our foods were prepared and sold widely; and we all knew ‘Yoo ke gari or Yoo ke tatale (beans, gari and ripe plantain)’. Today, we hear the same food being referred to as gobe.

“I have through out my adult life witnessed the shedding off of the beautiful flowers from the Ga Dangme tree we came to meet. Ga Dangme language was widely spoken and taught in our schools; Ga Dangme books were in abundance; church services; singing and preaching were all done in the GaDangme language and interpreted in Akan,” he reminisced.