One of the ‘abrafuo’ guarding the late
queen mother’s palace during the procession
IN THE wake of indiscriminate beatings of individuals in the Business District of Sunyani for not obeying a directive from the Sunyani Traditional Council that all residents should wear mourning attire as a result of the ongoing funeral of the queen mother of the area, the Police Administration in the region has urged the traditional authorities to uphold the rights of individuals.
Since Tuesday, residents who have not been wearing either black or white attire in the central parts of Sunyani to mourn the passing of Sunyani Omanhemaa Nana Yaa Nyamaa Poduo II have been manhandled by traditional executioners from the council known in local parlance as ‘Abrafuo’.
There had been videos showing the executioners on the rampage, and in most cases they were being aided by some plain-clothes policemen to attack those who were not in mourning attire on the streets of Sunyani.
Yesterday, the Police Administration issued a statement titled: “Activities of ‘Abrafuo’ in Sunyani Municipality and Unprofessional Behaviour of Some Police Personnel,” signed by the Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Nana Kwaku Duah, condemning the attack, and cautioning those engaged in the unlawful behaviour.
“The attention of the Bono Police Command has been drawn to videos circulating on social media of activities of ‘Abrafuo’ on the ongoing Omanhemaa funeral. In one of the videos, it was seen that a man in a dark uniform on a motorbike being assaulted by MTTD personnel and Abrafuo,” the statement said.
“The Bono Regional Police Command has directed immediate investigation into the issue. The said victim in the dark uniform is not police personnel. He may be an employee of one of the private security firms,” it added.
The statement further said “the command has held a meeting with a representative of the funeral steering committee about some excesses on the part of some ‘Abrafuo’ and the need to uphold the rights of the individuals.”
The final funeral rites of the late queen mother started on Tuesday with a traditional rite called ‘adwaree’ (bathing) where there was procession of mourners carrying various items in trays meant for bathing the corpse before it lay in repose.
During the procession on some principal streets of Sunyani, the ‘Abrafuo’ wielded guns, machetes and sticks amid firing of musketry.
It was in the course of this that they attacked those who were not in red or black attire and also descended on those who took pictures of the procession.
FROM Daniel Y. Dayee, Sunyani