- Sacred stone centrepiece of Togolese ceremony. The long-awaited arrival of the sacred stone at the Epe-Ekpe festival. A former Portuguse, British and German colony, the west African nation of Togo is home to more than a dozen major linguistic and cultural ethnic groups. One of those groups, are the Guins or the Minas, first settled on the shores of Lake Togo and the some 400 years ago. Early September marks the beginning of a new year for the Guin people, and it's an occasion to celebrate the Epe Ekpe which was held at Glidji-Kpodji about 45 km from the capital. To explain that one of the central aspects of the Epe-Ekpe ceremonies involves locating a sacred stone in a…