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The performance of customary
rites was at its best as the kingmakers slaughtered a bull
and sprinkled the blood on the sea blue casket containing
the mortal remains of the King amidst musketry.
From the Palace, the casket of Nii Amugi II was placed in a
well decorated black hearse ready to be driven to the seven
paramount stool houses of the Ga State and then to Pobiman,
near Pokoase where he would finally be laid to rest at
midnight.
Thousands of mourners, clad in red and black, and
Asafoatsemei and Asafoanyemei (Warriors) of the various
clans, clad in smocks, followed the hearse.
Present at the funeral included
Government officials, representatives of the various
political parties, religious and youth groups, Chiefs and
Queen-Mothers family members and sympathisers.
The solemn ceremony was nearly marred when an irate mob
charged on Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, Accra
Metropolitan Chief Executive, for passing a comment which
did not go down well with them.
Tempers were calmed, however, when Professor John Evans Atta,
Flag Bearer of the National Democratic Congress for Election
2008 shook hands with Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama as
he left the funeral grounds, since it depicted peace and
unity.
Representatives of the Government; Former President
Rawlings; representatives of the Ga Traditional Council;
National House of Chiefs; Ga Dangme Council, Religious
bodies the Widow, Mrs Josephine Yartey and the eight
children of the Nii Amugi II read tributes in his honour.
The Very Reverend Jehoshaphat Attey Oquaye, Dean Emeritus of
the Anglican Diocese of Accra, who prayed for the King, said
the world was facing treacherous times in which peace and
harmony had almost eluded her.
He said peace could only be achieved in an atmosphere of
justice and tolerance and called on the kingmakers to choose
a successor according to the accepted procedures to ensure
peace and security in the Ga State and the country at large.
Nii Amugi II, known in private life as Simon Nii Yarboi
Yartey was born on June 8, 1940 to Mr Samuel Nii Ofoli
Yartey and Madam Elizabeth Naa Afi Torgbor of Amugi We and
Sakumo Tsoshishi, respectively.
He was the youngest man, who ever occupied “Abettsi Afadi”,
the ancestral sacred stool of Nii Okai Koi when he was
enstooled on March 20 1965. He reigned for 39 years and was
one of the few Traditional Rulers, whose reign spanned all
the Heads of State of Ghana.
GNA
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