By Dennis Peprah
Abesim (B/R), Aug. 14, GNA – The pre-burial funeral and burial rites of the late Nana Yaa Pomaa, the Abesimhemaa (Queen-mother of Abesim) ended peacefully at Abesim, near Sunyani over the weekend.
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr. Agyemang-Badu II, the Paramount Chief of Dormaa and overlord of Abesim, joined scores of mourners to give the late queen-mother a befitting farewell at the Abesim local Roman Catholic School Park, the funeral grounds.
Other mourners included politicians, former ministers of state, the clergy, chiefs and queens from all walks of life attended.
The late Nana Pomaa who ascended the Abesim queens’ stool in 1978 occupied the stool for 43 years and died in 2021 after a short illness. She was 66 years.
As tradition and custom demand, the late queen-mother was buried late-night on Saturday at the Abesim Royal Mausoleum to join her ancestors after she was laid in state publicly at the Abesim Palace on Friday for mourners to pay their last respect.
Earlier, Osagyefo Agyemang-Badu II and Odeneho Akosua Fema Dwaben II, the Paramount Queen-mother of Dormaa performed secret customary rites before the body was later put into a casket for burial.
The Doteyie (pre-burial funeral) turned the Abesim town into a state of mourning as the royals, mostly clad in red apparel and traditional regalia, filled, sang dirges and paraded the Abesim town.
It was, however, hectic for the heavy Police personnel deployed to maintain law and order to control the unusual human and vehicular traffic in the Abesim town.
Traditional warriors, customarily from the Dormaa Traditional Area, were also not left out of the Doteyie, when they fired musketries sporadically to scare onlookers.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Nana Kyei Nketiah, the Adontenhene of Abesim and the Chairman of the Funeral Planning Committee described the late queen as development-oriented who contributed immensely toward the development of Abesim town and the Dormaa Traditional Area in general.
“In fact, she was a preserver of our tradition and culture; and we must ensure her legacy would be maintained in the interest of our people as she joins her ancestors,” he added.
Nana Nketiah advised the youth of the town to shun all unhealthy practices and lifestyle such as alcoholism and drug abuse in order not to land themselves in trouble as they mourned the late queen.
He said the burial of the late queen would pave the way for the installation of a successor who would then lead the chiefs and people of the area to hold a befitting final funeral rite for the late queen.
Nana Nketiah described the entire pre-burial funeral programme which started on Tuesday with clean-up exercise, as a success.
He, and on-behalf of the chiefs and people of the Dormaa Traditional Area expressed appreciation to everyone, who in diverse ways contributed to the success of the programme.
GNA