Burial rites have already been held for the Queen mother who passed away in 2016 at age 109.

[contextly_sidebar id=”uwKmxIEV4TvDEu8Mz4birueBUkUqbEIl”]Briefing the press on the final funeral rites, the Chairman of the funeral committee, Nsuase Opoku Agyeman, Otumfuo’s Akyeamhene, said the funeral is open to the public, but urged strict adherence to the arrangements.

Nsuase Opoku Agyeman advised residents and traders in the Central Business District of Kumasi to close their shops n Monday and Tuesday, explaining that “there will be firing of musketry in the streets, the executioners will also be around to display, so as Nananom parade from Adum to Manhyia, we will advice that all shops be closed, no trotros or taxis should be seen working.”

He further announced that, “no one should be seen in the evening on Saturday. It should be observed just like the Thursday during the burial rites, because that evening, Nananom will take the Abusuakuruwa to Breman.”

In connection with the funeral, a ban has been placed on all funerals from the Friday 1st December to Monday 11th December.

The Funeral  arrangements are as follows:

Friday 1st  December: Performance by traditional Priests and Priestess from 6am to 6pm at the Boagyawe in the Manhyia Palace.

Saturday 2nd December: Wake keeping starts. From Friday Night till Day break on Saturday at the Asantehemaa’s Palace.

Sunday 3rd December: Kuntunkuni day, Otumfuo will sit in state from 11am to 6pm at Dwabrem at the Manhyia Palace.

Wake keeping continues from 6pm till day break of Monday at Manhyia and all other Palaces across the Asante Kingdom.

Fasting begins.

Monday 4th December: Traditional wailing from dawn to 6am by the Queen mother and other women in the palace. They are expected to parade from Manhyia to Adum and back. There will be firing of musketry.

This event is purely private.

From 7am to 12pm, Nananom of the Kumasi Traditional Area will parade from their various areas to Manhyia in their smocks.

At 1pm, Otumfuo will parade from Pampaso, through Kejetia, Dr. Mensah, Krofrom to Manhyia Bonmu in his Batakari Kese.

He will sit in state to receive sympathizers and donations from 3pm to 6pm at Dwabrem, in the Manhyia Palace.

Tuesday 5th December: Firing of Musketry by Paramount Chiefs of the Asante Kingdom from 8am to 1pm at the Manhyia Bonmu.

Otumfuo will sit in state to receive sympathizers and donations from 9am to 6pm at Dwabrem at the Manhyia Palace.

Wednesday 6th December: Performance of customary rites. Otumfuo will sit in state to receive sympathizers and donations from 11am to 6pm at Dwabrem in the Manhyia Palace.

His wife is expected to console him with the traditional Gold Necklace, Awisiado.

Thursday 7th December: Performance of customary rites continues.

Otumfuo will sit in state to receive sympathizers and donations from 11am to 6pm at Dwabrem in the Manhyia Palace.

Government Officials are on this day expected to sympathize with the King.

Wives of the Princes of the Golden Stool will present customary burial articles, Adosoa and Futuo from 10am to 1pm at Dwabrem in the Manhyia Palace.

Friday 8th December: The fast which began on Sunday will end on this day.

Otumfuo will distribute sheep, foodstuffs and firewood to mourners who have been fasting in the morning.

Consecration rites of the stool in memory of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II will be held in the evening at Werempe.

Saturday, 9th December: Exhibition of the various customary burial articles presented by the wives of Princes of the Golden Stool from 8am to 12pm at the Asantehemaa’s Palace.

There will be purification rites for the cleansing of the royals of the Golden Stool. This will be characterized by the shaving of hair and paring of nails into the Abusua kuruwa from 6am to 12pm, in front of the Asantehemaa’s Palace.

Otumfuo will sit in state from 2pm to 6pm to welcome the consecrated stool of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II from Werempe at Bogyawe.

In the night, Asantehene and Asantehemaa will send the Abusua Kuruwa to Breman.

Sunday 10th December: Interdenominational Thanksgiving service and memorial Thanksgiving service at 1pm at Dwabrem in the Manhyia Palace.

Dress for this event is Adinkra Fufuo or black and white cloth.

Monday 11th December: Otumfuo will sit in state to bid farewell to Nananom and express his appreciation and gratitude to sympathizers from 10am to 3pm at Dwabrem in the Manhyia Palace.

Friday 15th December: 2nd Thanksgiving service and memorial service for the Late Queen mother at the Kumasi Central mosque.

On Monday and Tuesday, Residents in Kumasi are advised to stay indoors and not come around the Central Business District.

On Saturday evening, no one must be seen outside from 12pm to 5am.

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Citi News’ Ashanti regional correspondent, Lauretta Timah had reported that the boy identified as Osman Abdukari, was shot at, by some unknown persons.

According to the police, the events leading to the incidence are not clear, as eyewitnesses have given varied accounts of what happened.

Chief Superintendent Kwaku Buah is the Manhyia Divisional Police Commander.

“Yesterday at around 7:30pm I received information concerning the incident. This guy is about 17-years-old, someone who had just completed JHS and had gone to the place with others to have fun and this unfortunate incident happened. He is now on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, he is not dead.”

Although the Police Commander said no arrest has been made yet, he noted that they’ve had information from some persons who witnessed the event.

“We’ve not yet made any arrest. We’ve spoken to people in the area including eyewitnesses who were. We are still hunting for the perpetrators of this heinous crime. We have a lot of information we are trying to analyze, we’ve had so many varied information and it is our job to investigate and ascertain the truth behind the issue. As I talk to you now the Municipal Security Council had finished meeting on the matter and officials of the council are going to the site of the incident,” he added.

9 die after Salah stampede 

Nine persons died in 2017 in a stampede in Asawase in the Ashanti Region during a jam to climax the Eid-ul Fitr celebration in the area.

An investigation by the security showed that the stampede occurred when an electric meter at the Asawase Community Centre where the event was held caught fire.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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This was revealed when the new Queen-mother was shown to the Gyaase clan in her palace.

The Asantehene appointed the new Queenmother in consultation with the Head of the royal family.

Ama Konadu will be succeeding the late Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, who died in November 2016, and was buried in January 2017.

She is the first daughter of the late queen mother.

Ama Konadu, together with the Asantehene, will plan the final funeral rites of the late Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem.

She will appear at the Asanteman Council before Otumfuo announces her as the new Queen Mother at a durbar.

Her stool name is yet to be announced.

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Otumfuo picks 83-year old sister as new Asantehemaa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Various groups have paid tribute to the late queen-mother who died in November 2016, aged 111.

She has been lying in state over the last three days, and is expected to be buried later today [Thursday] at Breman.

Since Monday, there has been a sea of black and red, as thousands of people from all walks of life have been visiting the Manhyia Palace, to mourn with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, her son, and also pay their last respects amidst the rich cultural display of Asante customs.

President Nana Akufo-Add0, Vice-President Mahamadu Bawumia, Ex-Presidents John Mahama, John Kufuor and Jerry John Rawlings have paid their last respects.

Other dignitaries who paid their last respects included former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, Members of Ghana’s new Parliament and US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson.

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Photos: Lauretta Timah

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Asantehemaa funeral: Pictures from the burial service appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The closure of schools forms part of measures put in place by the Manhyia Palace to ensure funeral rites of the late Asantehmaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II are performed smoothly, according to a letter signed by an acting Deputy GES Director General, Felicia Boakye-Yiadom.

The late Asantehemaa has been laid in state at the Manhyia Palace, where mourners have been filing past her body until Thursday, when she will finally be buried.

She died at the age of 111 in November 2016, and will be buried in Breman.

The letter said: “I have the pleasure to inform you that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Chairman of the Transition Team has given formal permission for you to close down all schools in the Kumasi Metropolis on Thursday, 19th January, 2017 as one of the measures put in place by the Manhyia Palace to ensure a smooth funeral rite of the late Asantehmaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The public have been given the opportunity to file past the body of the queen-mother, which has been lying in state since Monday.

Per custom of the Asante Kingdom, females who intend to file past the late queen-mother are to do so on barefoot, and without scarfs, earrings and bracelets.

Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, is lying in state at the Manhyia Palace, where mourners will be filing past her body until Thursday, when she would finally be buried.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, former President of Ghana, John Kufuor, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin and a host of other dignitaries were at Manhyia on Monday to pay their last respects to the late queen-mother.

Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, died at the age of 111 in November 2016, and will be buried in Breman on Thursday.

Some personalities in Kumawood movie industry including Liwin are currently at the place as well as a delegation from the Ghana Bar Association and the clergy.

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghanaians pay last respects to late Asantehemaa [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Hundreds of sympathisers had converged on the Manhyia Palace to mark the one-week celebration.

Some mourners were seen making the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) change sign when President John Mahama arrived on the grounds.

That reportedly prompted the President’s security detail to step in to protect him. But some of the mourners claimed one of the President’s security officials drew a gun at the crowd and the action angered some of them.

“We are all here mourning, not to fight but they want to use the occasion for a political campaign and we will not allow that,” one angry resident stated.

“Suddenly one of President Mahama’s security details pulled out a gun threatening to shoot at us. I saw the gun. We won’t sit and let them come to our land and threaten us. No matter what they do, change is coming.”

Apart from the people from the region, scores of government officials and politicians have also joined the chiefs to mourn with the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu.

The NPP Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo was also at Manhyia to join Asanteman mourn the death of Nana Afia Serwaa Kobi.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Kumasi residents upset with Mahama’s security team appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A statement from the Manhyia Palace confirmed that, “she passed away peacefully at her palace on Monday, 14^th November, 2016.”

The statement paid tribute to the Asantehemaa saying, “she has been a pillar of strength and source of wisdom behind the transformational reign of his Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene.”

The traditional One Week rites following her death will be performed at the Manhyia palace on Thursday, 24^th November, 2016.

Ban on noisemaking, funerals

“In accordance with Asante custom, a ban has been placed on all funeral, drumming and noisemaking throughout Asanteman until after the funeral of the Asantehemaa,” the statement noted.

Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II was the Asantehemaa for 39 years. She was enstooled in 1977 as the 13th queenmother of the Asante Kingdom after the late Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko II who reigned from 1945 to 1977.

The late Asantehemaa was also the mother of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

She also saw the reign of the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, as Asantehene from 1970 to 1999.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Otumfuo’s mother dies aged 111 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Reds required a 79th-minute winner by Sturridge to overcome a determined Southampton side 2-1 at Anfield.

Asked if Liverpool are a better team following the departure of Suarez, Sturridge said: “I think so, with the players we’ve brought in.

“No disrespect – he’s a great player and will be missed – but we move on.”

Uruguay forward Suarez, who moved to Barcelona for £75m , scored 31 times in 33 top-flight appearances as the Reds finished runners-up last season.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that the 27-year-old sent him a text on the morning of the Southampton game wishing him and the team good luck.

“His heart will always be with Liverpool,” added Rodgers.

Liverpool have signed eight players since the end of last season at a cost of £101m, with one of those – striker Divock Origi – loaned back to Lille.

Three of those new additions – Javier Manquillo, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert – featured against Southampton, the latter coming on as a substitute against his former club.

Rodgers, who is hoping to further strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes in two weeks, admitted his side are “by no means the finished article” but believes they can mount another title challenge without Suarez.

“Our ambitions have to be bigger than one player,” added Rodgers. “We’re bigger than any one player, I still think we need a striker so we’ll search through until the end of the window for that.

“I don’t think anyone has given us hope of getting in the top four. We loved the challenge last season and that is what we look to recreate.”

Meanwhile, Southampton boss Ronald Koeman also believes his side is stronger despite a summer of upheaval.

The Saints lost manager Mauricio Pochettino as well as a host of key players including Lambert, Adam Lallana and Lovren to Liverpool.

“The rumours were that we would be worse than last season, but I don’t agree with that,” Koeman, speaking to BBC Sport, said.

“The performance was very good and it gives the boys a lot of confidence.

“We need one or two players more, a winger. The club is working hard.”

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Source: BBC Sport

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