Three years without Kundum Festival

The leaders of Ahantaman(left), The late Ahanta King, Otumfuo Badu Bonsu II(right)

For the third year in a   row, the people of  Ahanta, a farming community in the Western Region, has had to sacrifice their annual Kundum festival, because the burial of their late King, Otumfuo Badu Bonsu II, has not been performed.

The head of the late king was returned to Ghana in 2009 from The Netherlands after about 173 years, and since its arrival the funeral rites have not been performed.

What this means is that until the head of the late king is laid to rest, the people and elders of the Ahanta kingdom cannot enjoy the richness and beauty of their annual Kundum Festival.

Ahanta custom demands that when the funeral rites of a dead royal have not been performed, the celebration of the festival would be put on hold until the burial of the said chief. This is to show reverence.

This custom has been there since time immemorial.
The people of Ahanta celebrate the popular 'Kundum' Festival, which means 'eat to satiate yourself.'

The origin of the Kundum Festival is shrouded in antiquity, but tradition has it that the festival is celebrated to commemorate the first successful maize harvest – the staple food of the Ahantas.

However, it seems the people of Ahanta, particularly, the youth, are growing impatient over the failure of the Ahanta Traditional Council to bury the head of the late king to pave way for the celebration of their festival.

The people of Ahanta celebrate the Kundum festival in the months of August, and this year's cannot come of, following the burial of the king not having been performed.

This is creating agony among sections of the youth, who are demanding that the Traditional Council put steps in place to bury the late king.

Some of the youth, who spoke to this file, expressed their disappointment in the Traditional Council for the continuous cancelation of the festival, and have advised the Council to make sure the king is buried.

Interestingly, when the head of the late king was brought down by a five-member team from The Netherlands, they were first greeted with discord, following the team not abiding by the directive issued by the current King of Ahantaman, Otumfuo Badu Bonsoe XV.

The sitting King had mandated the five-member team to travel to The Netherlands to observe the head of the late king, and report to him for the next line of action.

This was after the BBC broke the story to the effect that the head of an Ahanta slain king was currently preserved in a bottle in the Netherlands.

The team, which was led by the former District Chief Executive (DCE), Joseph Amoah, flouted Otumfuo Bado Bonsoe's directive, and rather decided to bring down the head, contrary to the directive issued by the latter.

This created division among the chiefs and the team. In the end, there was consensus to lay the head to rest. But, to date, there have been fruitless attempts to hold the funeral rites as planned by the Ahanta Traditional Council.

A five-man committee, chaired by Nana Bozz XI, Mawerehene of the Ahanta Traditional Council, was charged to present a proposal and plan for the final funeral rites of the late king since 2009, but has yet to fulfil the charge.

Last year, the King of Ahanta, Otumfuo Bado Bonsoe XV, at a traditional meeting, charged the committee to ensure that the head of the beheaded king was buried this year, to pave way for the celebration the Kundum Festival.

Otumfuo warned at the said meeting that the patience of the youth was running out, following the cancellation of the festival.

Interestingly, the committee could not put finishing touches to ensure the burial of the late king.

The Chairman of the committee, Nana Bozza, in an interview with the Western File, pointed out that his committee could not be held responsible for the continuous cancellation of the festival.

According to him, the committee had finished with its proposal to lay the late king to rest, but what was stalling the funeral was availability of funds.

He said the committee had requested for sponsorship from corporate bodies, but there has been no response. Nana Bozza added that currently, the committee would need a whopping sum of GH¢ 1million to lay the late king to rest.