Awoonor’s body flown in from Kenya
The mortal remains of literary writer, poet and former diplomat, Professor Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor, was yesterday handed over to the government and family for the necessary burial rites to be performed.
Advertisement
The body was flown from Kenya to Ghana, where he died on Saturday, September 21, 2013, when gunmen stormed the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi killing at least 62 people.
Professor Awoonor was in Kenya to attend this year’s Storymoja Hay Festival, a Kenyan literary festival.
Before his death, Professor Awoonor, who was installed as the Agbomogla of Anlo (Elder who holds the key to Anlo) in 1997, was said to have left instructions on how his funeral should be organised, and there was therefore no open wailing as his mortal remains were handed over to the family and government officials.
The government delegation was led by the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Bani, and the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Doe Adjaho.
Chiefs from the 36 states of the Anlo Traditional Area were present to receive the body while the family was represented by Professor Kofi Anyidoho.
Among some of the instructions that he left behind was that he should not be given a state burial and, therefore, there would be a private ceremony on October 3, 2013.
The ceremony would also be attended by only a selected few, because his wish was that there should not be more than 250 people at his funeral.
The state would, however, organise a memorial service in his honour on October 11, 2013 where people can pay tribute to him.
A traditionalist, Prof. Awoonor had also wished that his mortal remains be sent to his home town, Weta in the Volta Region, and therefore this wish would be granted on November 9, 2013.
Professor Awoonor’s body was accompanied by Ghana’s High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr Kingsley Saka Abdul Karima, and the son of the Professor, Afetsi Awoonor, who was with his father when the incident occurred. He sustained injuries to his shoulder as a result.
The casket was carried by officers from the Ghana Armed Forces while about 250 security personnel, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohonu, were deployed from the Accra Region to provide security at the airport and other locations.
The 78-year-old former Chairman of the Council of State was billed to speak at the National Museum of Kenya, alongside two other Ghanaians — Nii Ayikwei Parkes, a United Kingdom-based novelist and poet, and the celebrated Ghanaian-born Caribbean poet and actor, Kwame Senu Neville Dawes. The event was, however, cancelled in memory of the victims of the attack.
Before the body was conveyed away in a hearse manned by the Lashibi Funeral Home (LFH), there were incantations by Dr Totoheme Kumodzi and invocations of the gods by some elders of the family.
They also bid him farewell.
Mourners trooped to the tarmac of the VIP lounge of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), where the body was brought at exactly 12:35 p.m. by Kenya Airways.
Officials from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were also present in their numbers to pay their last respects to the man who many described as a great son of the land.
The Mizorblewu Cultural Troupe from Anlo Afiadenyibga did the Kpoka music, where they sang and danced before and after the body arrived.
According to Prof. Anyidoho (who moderated the handover of the body from the Ghana High Commissioner in Kenya to the family), the family is trying very hard to ensure that it does not go against the wish of the professor concerning his funeral arrangements.
The Dusifiaga of Anlo, Togbe Gbordzor III, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the Anlo State had lost an illustrious son.
According to him, Prof. Awoonor changed the face of Ewe literature and gave it more prominence, which he said projected the Anlo State.
“He took it upon himself to groom young people, especially the unfortunate youth who he took through school,” the Dusifiaga said.
Mourners continued to troop to the late Professor’s North Legon residence to express their condolence to the bereaved family.
The Volta Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, was among the dignitaries who signed the book of condolence at the residence yesterday.
By Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho/Daily Graphic/Ghana
