Final funeral rites for the late JB Danquah held nearly 60 years after his death

Ghanaian statesman and founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), Joseph Boakye Danquah has finally been given a befitting funeral, 58 years after his passing on February 4, 1965.

The Ofori Panin Fie, under the leadership of Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, conducted the final funeral rites of the late Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah, 58 years after his demise, on February 10, 2024.

At the time of his death, JB Danquah was Twafohene of Okyeman, with the stool name Barima Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Dankwa I.

Per the funeral poster shared by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the event took place at the forecourt of Ofori Panin Fie in Kyebi, Eastern Region.

The stool of Twafohene had remained vacant since the passing of Barima Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Dankwa I, until Katakyie Kwame Boakye Dankwa II was enstooled on December 16, 2023, as the successor to his grandfather.

Following the customs and traditions, the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council announced that the new Twafohene would organize a memorial service for his predecessor on Sunday, February 4, 2024.

The final funeral rite, known as "Dɔteyie," followed on February 10, 2024, where the mortal remains of the late Twafohene were laid in state for chiefs, queens, royals, and mourners to pay their respects.

The royal process held that the final funeral rites of a chief or queen could only be conducted if a successor was enstooled to occupy the vacant black stool.

Okatakyie Ababio Boakye Danquah, the new Twafohene, had taken an oath of allegiance to Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin the previous year.

The final funeral rites drew attendance from Akyem land indigenes, traditional rulers nationwide, politicians, clergy, and other notable personalities who commemorated the legacy of JB Danquah 58 years after his passing.

Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah, popularly known as JB Danquah, was a prominent leader in the Ghanaian independence movement and a founder of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

He was also a prolific writer, lawyer, philosopher and historian.

He was the first West African to earn a PhD from a British university and the one who suggested the name Ghana for the new nation.

However, JB Danquah was a fierce opponent of Kwame Nkrumah and his party, the Convention People's Party (CPP), and was arrested and detained several times under the Preventive Detention Act.

He died in prison in February 1965.

ID/EK

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