Vice President Bawumia joins mourners at Asatehemmaa's funeral

By Sampson Adu-Poku, GNA
Kumasi, Jan 18, GNA - Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the Second Lady, Samira, on Wednesday joined thousands of people to mourn the Asantehemaa, Nana Afua Kobi Serwaah Ampem II.

Her body has been lying in state at the Manhyia Palace over the last three days.

The deceased was the biological mother of the reigning Asante King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Installed in 1977, she was the 13th Asante Queen and passed on at the ripe age of 111.

She would be buried tomorrow - deep in the night, at the Royal Mausoleum in Bremang.

Former President John Dramani Mahama had earlier, same day, being to the Palace to pay his last respects to the Asantehemaa.

He was accompanied by former ministers and appointees, who served in his government, alongside the leadership of his political party - the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Also there to commiserate with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and Asanteman on the loss of the Queen, was the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Aaron Ocquaye, Members of Parliament (MPs), Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Diplomats and Chief Executive Officers of some public and private institutions.

Since Monday, thousands of people from all walks of life have been visiting the Palace to say good bye to her.

President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, celebrated Ghanaian Diplomat, Mr. Kofi Annan, Chief Justice Theodora Wood and Togbe Afede XIV, President of the National House of Chiefs, the British High Commissioner, Jon Benjamin, South Korean Ambassador Wen Ki Lio, and the Esama of the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria, Sir Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, are among the tall list of high profile personalities to file past the body.

The four-day funeral is being held amid tight security - strong presence of police and military officers, as the large crowd of people clad in black and red, signifying their somber mood, stood in long snaking queues to bid the Queen farewell.

The beauty, pomp and pageantry of Asante royal funeral, had been at full blast.

As the Asantehene sat under the canopy of huge umbrellas to receive and exchange greetings with sympathizers, the traditional drummers and dancers had been putting up intricate performances amid the clattering of executioner's swords.

The air intermittently had also been filled with deafening sounds from the firing of musketry.

Teams of health professionals alongside the Red Cross Society and the Saint John's Ambulance and the Ghana National Fire Service are present to respond to any emergency.

GNA