Togbui Amenya Fiti V, Fiaga of Aflao receiving the remains
?Komla Afeke Dumor, Komla Afeke Dumor, Komla Afeke Dumor, I have called you three times?is it true that you are dead? Hmm?I welcome you back home in the name of all Aflao people and Ghanaians as a whole.?
Those were the affectionate words of the Paramount Chief of the Aflao, Togbui Amenya Fiti V when he officially received the mortal remains of former Ghanaian BBC broadcaster, Komla Afeke Dumor on behalf of the family of the deceased.
When the British Airways Boeing aircraft carrying the body of Komla Dumor touched down at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra at exactly 8:25 p.m on Monday, the entire atmosphere changed.
Chiefs, clergy, kinsmen and women, family and friends, colleagues and sympathizers, who had thronged the airport to welcome the body, were all in a somber mood, as dirges were sung.
Komla Dumor?s wife, Kwansema, his three children and a few family members who accompanied the body from London were all dressed in black.
The pallbearers from the Lashibi Funeral Home and Crematorium, who received the body from the aircraft handed it over to the Aflao Royal Guards for the traditional ceremony to be performed.
Togbui Dzato of the Aflao Traditional Area led the performance of the rights, offering libations to the gods and ancestors for the safe arrival of the body.
After the traditional rites, the Paramount Chief of the Aflao, Togbui Amenya Fiti V, officially received the body on behalf of the family.
Christian rites followed and prayers were said by Rev Father Samuel Filton-Mensah of the Accra Catholic Archdiocese after which the body was presented to the pallbearers to be transported to the Lashibi Funeral Home for the final funeral rites.
The solemn event was devoid of wailing.
The family commended the media and members of the public for their immense support and said the date for the final funeral rites would be announced soon.
Komla died in London on January 18, 2014 after cardiac arrest at age 41.
Present during the brief airport ceremony were the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani, who represented the President, Fiifi Kwetey, Minister of State, Dzifa Gomashie-Ahiaglo, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and Dzifa Attivor, Minister of Transport, among others.
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By Cephas Larbi
