The Naa Dedei Omaedru We say it did not participate in the 2024 Homowo festivities because their late mother and grandmother, the late Ga Manye Naa Dedei Omaedru III, gave them strict instructions not to.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, August 17, 2024, Asafoatse Nii Teiko Ga II said “we had consistently celebrated the festival, but the late Queenmother advised them against that”.
At the conference, the family paraded some cooking utensils and other items used in celebrating the festival, saying that this year they will neither cook nor host any ceremonies.
He posited that because the family has not organised the funeral rites for the late Queenmother, it was not customary right to organise or celebrate the festival.
He said the decision by the Ga Traditional Council to parade an empty casket at the “fake funeral” they organised angered the the alte queen and their ancestors.
Nii Teiko Ga II said, ‘’our late Queenmother and other departed souls told us that if it was true that an empty casket was paraded at the funeral grounds organised by the Ga Traditional Council without the involvement of the family, when her body is still in the mortuary, then we should not celebrate the festival. Naa Dedei Omaedru III was the queen and performed several rites during the festival, and if today she is no more and lies are being peddled about her, then she and our late departed souls don’t want us to celebrate the festival.
So, if you will observe, these are the untensils that we use in cooking the kpokpoi. We did not cook on August 10, 2024, and we will also not cook today, August 17, 2024. The rites that were also performed for the ancestors would also not be performed this year.’’
He also reiterated that the mortal remains of the late queen have not been buried, adding, ‘’the remains are with the family, and we are currently preparing to organise her final rites. We will settle on the date for the funeral and inform Ghanaians of it’’.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana