William Shakespeare, undoubtedly, the greatest playwright that ever walked on this earth, wrote in Act II, Scene Five of his love-play, Twelfth Night: “Some are born great. Others achieve greatness. Some have greatness bestowed on them.”
All three could be said of Nana Akyin VI, Omanhen of the Ekumfi Traditional Area, who passed away nearly four decades ago and still remains relevant to the socio-political evolution of this country. Nana was born nobility into the Royal Asona Clan of Ekumfi.
He rose to become the Paramount Chief of the traditional area, worked his way to become the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs for fourteen solid years and had the Chairmanship of the Presidential Commission of this country thrust upon him by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, first Head of State of the newly independent nation of Ghana.
For the uninitiated, the Chairmanship of the Presidential Commission was akin to Vice President or Prime Minister in today’s political dispensation.
It tells much about the greatness of the late Omanhen of the Ekumfi Traditional Area that nearly forty years after joining his ancestors, Nana Akyin VI still remains relevant to the socio-political evolution of the people he left behind in Ekumfi, and to the entire nation.
Under the leadership of his nephew, born Kwesi Asmah, who has now stepped into the big shoes Nana Akyin VIl left behind as the new head of the traditional area answering to the title Odeefo Ayin VIII, together with his traditional leaders, has set aside the whole of the month of June to remember the man whose mantra was ‘Ye Adze Ma Wombo Wodzin (Do something for people to glorify your name.)
From Friday, June 9 to Sunday, June 18, the royal palace at Ebiram, the traditional headquarters of the Ekumfi State, will vibrate with Fontomfrom, Apinstin, Kete and Asafo songs and dance in remembrance of the late Nana Akyin VI, his immediate successor, Nana Akyin VII, and two Queenmothers, Nana Benyiwa IV, and Nana Benyiwa V, who are already in the spirit world.
It is billed as a great remembrance ceremony. But it is also a huge homecoming event for all Ekumfi citizens living outside the traditional area.
The sounding of Omanhen’s appellation, ‘Suro Koko… Nkrofo No Suro Koko’, together with Atumpan, Kete and Asafo sounds are indications that something of huge significance to the traditional area is happening.
Under the arrangement, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is likely to grace the occasion, which is under the auspices of the National House of Chiefs. Consequently, the President of the House, Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, will preside over the funeral ceremony with Odeefo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, Omanhen of the Breman Asikuma Traditional Area, who is also the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs.
The Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, my good friend Stephen Asamoah Boateng, is the Special Guest of Honour. The guests list of Ekumfi citizens making their way to Ebiram for the commemoration is tall.
There is Mr. Joe Ghartey, presidential-hopeful in the New Patriotic Party primary and immediate past Minister for Railways Development, Mr. Affail Monney, former President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr. Kofi Yamoah, just retired Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr. Francis Ato Cudjoe, former Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aqua Culture, Mr. Abeeku Crentsil, Member of Parliament for Ekumfi, Mr. Joe Biney, Proprietor of Fridays, a popular entertainment spot at Sakumono in the Tema West District of Greater Accra, Chief Biney, a leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress, and as a host of media personnel.
The programme begun on Friday, June 9, with clean-up activities in all the 53 towns and villages in the traditional area. The main programme, on Saturday, June 10, with the pouring of libation by Akyeamehen Kwame Mentawoho. Odeefo Akyin VIII sat in state with his Queenmother, Nana Benyiwa VI, and all chiefs and traditional leaders in Ekumfi.
All towns and villages in the Ekumfi State are programmed to take turns to perform various Asafo songs and dance throughout the commemorative period..
The event reaches its climax on Saturday, June 17, with all invited guests, including the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, my good friend Stephen Asamoah Boateng, joining a tall list of invitees to mourn Nana Akyin VI, Akyin VII, Queenmothers Nana Benyiwa IV and V, as well as two Ebusuampayin, Nana Dadzie II and Nana Dadzie III.
There is a lot about Nana Akyin VI especially, that ought to be recounted and celebrated. When he was enstooled, just before the independence of Ghana in 1957, he faced stiff opposition from other royal contestants from the coastal belt of the Ekumfi Traditional Area.
He fled the royal palace at Ebiram and found a new home at Ekumfi Ekrawfo.
Growing up as a child, I remember waking up each morning to be greeted by a fleet of vehicles virtually taking over the main street in town, with their occupants singing and dancing to war songs.
Apparently, they were looking to capture Nana Akyin VI and remove him from the Stool. But the elders of Ekrawfo, including my father, were smarter. Every dawn they would take the new Chief to an ancestral grove called Obutu, which had a canopy of trees covering the source of a stream.
The search and destroy operation went on for quite a while until the advent of politics, leading to independence for the then Gold Coast in 1957. Nana Akyin joined the Convention People’s Party (CPP) of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and became a powerful advocate.
Eventually his pursuers chickened out. The CPP rewarded him by making him play key roles in the evolution of the new independent nation. For 14 years, from 1959 until 1973, the traditional head of Ekumfi was the President of the Central Region House of Chiefs.
The real deal was when the first President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, inducted him into office as the Chairman of the three-chiefs Presidential Commission.
Anytime the President left the country, and his trips were many at the time of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) and the Non-Aligned Movement, Nana Akyin VII and his Commission ruled the country.
The Ekumfi Overlord was the de facto Vice-President. Throughout the First Republican experiment until the coup d’état of 24 February 1966, the President of Ghana had no Prime Minister.
It is this man of history and politics that the Ekumfi Traditional Area are remembering in this grand funeral which begun on Friday, June 9. The event reaches its climax on Saturday June 17, with a grand durbar at the Ekumfi Royal Palace.
One interesting fact about the Ekumfi Royal Palace is that it has room for all the divisional chiefs in the traditional area. When proceedings are prolonged and there is need to continue the next day, all chiefs partaking in the proceedings need not leave. There is accommodation for each and every one of them.
The Ekumfi District, which forms the traditional area, comprises of 276 square kilometres, lying exactly at the centre of the coastal area of the Central Region. Essarkyir is the headquarters of the district.
The district used to be part of the Mfantsiman Municipality until it was split from the municipality on June 28, 2012. Officially, it has a population of 56,741, but with the entire workforce living and earning their living outside the district, the real population could be in the hundreds of thousands.
Geographically, the Ekumfi District is bounded to the east by the Gomoa West District, to the West by the Mfanstiman Municipality, and to the North by the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District. The Gulf of Guinea is the main border to the South.
Ekumfiba Ebo Quansah @ Ekumfi Ebiram
