A
court battle over the legacy of one of Ghana's most renowned musicians, Charles
Kwadwo Fosuh, better known by his stage name Daddy Lumba, has created a tense
and unexpected environment before the Kumasi High Court. What should have been
a period of serious sorrow after his death at the age of 60 at the Bank
Hospital in Accra has instead become a complicated conflict involving marriage
rights, family secrets, and even inquiries regarding the highlife legend's
actual nationality.
The
center of this judicial dispute is a civil claim filed by Akosua Serwaa Fosuh.
She appears in court to request a very specific legal declaration: that she is
the musician's sole surviving wife. Akosua is requesting that the court
acknowledge her as the only widow qualified to carry out the customary
widowhood ceremonies during the funeral. In addition to establishing her own
status, she wants to legally prevent Priscilla Ofori, better known by her stage
name Odo Broni, from posing as the musician's wife.
Information
concerning Daddy Lumba's life and travels has been exposed in order to support
her credibility. It was disclosed that in 2004, Daddy Lumba and Akosua Serwaa
Fosuh entered into a civil ordinance marriage. This momentous occasion occurred
in the German city of Bornheim, far from the coast of Ghana. The drama that is
developing revolves around this connection to Germany.
William
Kusi, the applicant's attorney, threw a curveball that took many by surprise
during the intensive cross-examination sessions. He inquired about the musician's
citizenship from Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu, the first defendant in the case and
the head of the Ekuona family in Parkoso. Lawyer Kusi indicated that Daddy
Lumba was not a Ghanaian at the time of his death, despite the family head's
assured testimony to the contrary. He suggested that the musician might have
been a German citizen instead, which could make the court case more difficult.
Daddy
Lumba moved to Europe in 1996 in search of better opportunities, which is when
this German connection began. He was a modest youngster born in Nsuta, Ashanti
Region, on September 29, 1964, before he became well-known worldwide. Born to
two educators, Johnson Kwadwo Fosuh and Ama Saa (also called Comfort Gyamfi),
he excelled in agricultural science at Juaben Senior High School. In the 1980s,
he first found the musical skill that would eventually lead him to Germany and
the rest of the globe in the hallways of his high school.
Emotional
memories of his late mother, Ama Saa, have also been triggered by the legal
procedures. He wrote numerous heartfelt songs for her, who served as his
spiritual pillar. Years after her death in 2001 at the Military Hospital in
Kumasi, her son's legacy is now in charge.
The
public and the family eagerly await the conclusion of the debate. This Friday,
the court is scheduled to render its final decision, which will resolve the
controversy over the highlife legend's nationality—German or Ghanaian—and, more
crucially, who is his legitimate widow.
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