The family of the late Ga Manye Naa Dedei Omaedru III, together with the consent of the principal elders, have reiterated that the mortal remains of the late queen are with them.
According to the family, after they held a press conference on August 8, 2024, to describe a funeral organised by the Ga Traditional Council as a fake funeral without their involvement, they have received several comments about their plot to twist the facts and details surrounding the death of the late Queenmother.
Leading another press conference on August 17, 2024, Asafoatse Nii Teiko Ga II declared that the ghost of the Queenmother had sent her final warning to those who were threatening the family and spreading lies about them to stop.
He maintained that the remains of the family are in their custody, and plans were far advanced for them to organise her final funeral rites.
He told journalists that no amount of pressure from external forces would stop them from doing wh5at was right.
He explained that, as a family, they have the responsibility of giving the second Queenmother a befitting burial. We have a family tradition that we would abide by. The Fa Traditional Council excluded us from the final preparation for the funeral ceremony they organised, so we did not participate in it. However, as a family, we will inform them when we decide on when to bury our late Queenmother. Our intention is not to disgrace them. We are only laying the facts before the general public.
Those who are doubting that the mortal remains are with the family, he said, “To all those who have doubted that the family still have the moral remains, we encourage them to lu them and include them in our preparation for the final funeral rites of our late Queenmother. But if they refuse, we will not be bothered but go ahead and organise our final rites for our late queen. When the late Nii Amugu died, I was one of those who prepared for his final funeral rites.
He was the President of the Ga Traditional Council and was from a family, so the family was involved in every activity of his final funeral rites. I was with our queenmother to go perform her customary rites for the departed king. After the rites were performed, he was then sent to the Ga Traditional Council. I was also part of the team with the traditional council until the late king was finally laid to rest. That was what should have been done for our late Ga Manye, but they did not do that, and so as a family, we also refused to give them the body. So the casket you saw at the funeral grounds was empty and did not contain the remains of the Ga Manye.”
So if I understand all these processes, why will I sit unconcerned and allow the traditional and customary rites of our late Ga Manye to be denigrated? I will not entertain that. That would be a sacrifice. As a family, we are protecting and preserving our traditional values, and we will not allow the late Ga Manye to be treated in this disrespectful manner.”
When asked the whereabouts of the body, he said the remains are with the family and in Ghana.
“The remains are with us and nowhere else. The remains are in Ghana and not abroad. She travelled abroad and died, but her remains were brought back to Ghana. We don’t want our history to be distorted. We want to preserve it for the next generation. We don’t want them to grow and come and witness a distorted history.”
Charles Nii Kotey Kotey, Head of Family for the Ga Manye, affirmed all that the Asafoatse stated.
He affirmed that they are planning for the final funeral rites and will communicate them to Ghanaians in due course.
“I affirm what the Asafoatse said. We were ignored in the planning of the funeral. Our opinions and suggestions were totally ignored. They even told us that if we refuse to hand them over the body, they will still go ahead with organising the funeral. When they meet us and we discuss issues, then they change all that we’ve discussed and do something differently.”
Two of her children, Prince Nii Teiko Tackie and Michael Nii Ofei Danso, also made remarks at the funeral, saying that none of the children or grandchildren were present at the funeral and that those who were paraded as children or grandchildren were imposters.
“They are those who have been lied to about our late mother. I am speaking as the son of the late Queen Mother. If there is anyone who wants clarity on any of the issues we have raised, they should get closer to family, and we will provide all those details for them. The late Queenmother made preparations before she died, and those who are twisting the facts today knew about all of these things, so it is surprising that they are behaving in this manner.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
