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GA MANTSE’S FUNERAL BEGINS
Accra, January 26, Ghanadot.com - After several years, a
week-long funeral rites for the late Ga Mantse, Boni Nii
Amugi II, has started peaking on Thursday with the presence
of a representative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,
chiefs from the Greater Accra Region and representatives of
corporate bodies at the Ga Mantse’s Palace at North Kaneshie.
They were in to mourn with members of the Ga Traditional
Council, the elders and citizens of the Ga State. Also
present were Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism
and Diasporan Relations and other government officials.
Funeral ceremonies and rites began on Tuesday when the late
King was laid in state at Amugi Naa, his family House near
the famous Ussher Fort, for family rites. He ruled for 39
years.
On Wednesday, the late King’s body was sent to the Ga
Mantse’s Palace for the Council to take over the core
activities of the funeral rites. Nii Adote Obuor, President
of the Ga Council, also known as Nii Sempe sat in state
together with Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio, James Town Mantse,
sat in state to welcome the teeming mourners.
Dressed in the traditional red and black, the various Asafo
companies from different royal houses, fired several rounds
of musketry chanting war songs. Others also sounded the
royal flutes made from sea shells and the horn of the
elephant to signify the mourning state of the Ga people.
Giant traditional drums were constantly beaten, with women
in a special dance meant only for such occasions.
The entire palace grounds have been beautifully decorated in
black and red cloth, with white painted walls.
The Offinsohene, Nana Wiafe Akenten III, led the large
delegation believed to be about 400, from the Manhyia Palace
to express the sympathy of Asanteman at the home call of one
of Ghana’s prominent kings.
Earlier in the day, Nene Awatey Kpana Atrukpa, the acting
President of the Shai Traditional Council, and the Otublohum
Mantse, Nii Duodu Sackey, turned up to mourn with the Ga
people.
A high-powered delegation from the Freemasons Club, led by
Nana Herman Oguaste Mould, the immediate past Grandmaster of
the Scottish Constitution in Ghana, was there to pay its
last respect to the late king.
Boni Nii Amugi, alias Soosey, was, until his death, an
active member of the Lodge of the Scottish Constitution.
Also at the palace were delegations from UNESCO and Cadbury
Ghana Limited.
Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, the Okyeman Council and the
entire Okyeman on Friday affirmed their solidarity with the
Ga State and its people as they mourn the passing away of
the late Ga Mantse.
In this regard the Okyenhene would personally attend the
funeral of the Ga Mantse on Saturday, January 27, 2007, in a
show of historical solidarity with the Ga State and the Ga
people.
A statement issued by Nana Yentumi Boaman, the Abodeesahene
and Chief of Staff at the Okyenhene’s Palace, said the
Okyenhene’s attendance, which was at the invitation of the
Ga State, attested to the long-standing ties of friendship
between the Ga State and Okyeman, which had lasted for more
than 300 years.
“Today, the Ga people and the people of Akyem Abuakwa, and
indeed the people of Ghana, are allies in a new battle — the
battle for development and the elimination of poverty,” the
statement said.
It called for unity of purpose and focus in the struggle in
which all must be the winners and no losers.
The statement cited a number of instances to demonstrate the
historic ties and solidarity between Okyeman and the Ga
State one of which was that the Ga people stood shoulder to
shoulder with Okyeman during its wars against the Akwamus in
the mid-18th century.
It said those wars shaped the relations between the existing
states in southern Ghana and the lower Volta Basin, as well
as the history of Ghana in general.
Similarly, in the 1920s, it said, the then Ga Mantse
permitted the Okyenhene of the time, Nana Ofori Atta I, who
was his great friend, to rent and later buy a house at
Adabraka in Accra, which became Ofori Panin Fie, the Accra
Palace of Okyeman.
“The permission significantly allows the Okyenhene to own
and operate the palace in Accra, in the same way as he does
at the palace at Kyebi.
Okyeman is the only traditional state accorded this
privilege in the capital,” it said.
Ghanadot.com, January 26, 2007.
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