Fish buried after rituals to avert disasters

Youth at Nyinahin in the Atwima Mponua district of the Ashanti Region have performed rituals for three fish found dead in the Nyinahin Amaano river.

The burial service, conducted in similar fashion for dead persons, was to prevent calamity, according to Kofi Owusu, the youth leader.

The fish were found in the river after the youth in the community embarked on a clean-up exercise over the weekend to remove filth at the banks of the river.

They were buried with a white piece of cloth after the performance of the rituals. Mr Owusu said it was not the place of the youth to perform the rituals and bury the fish but those responsible had abandoned their duties as demanded of them by tradition – the result of which was the calamities befalling the town.

He recalled that three bodies were retrieved from an uncompleted building two weeks ago but no rituals were performed prior to taking away the corpses, thanks to the negligence and uncooperative attitude of leaders of the town, especially its chief Nana Amampene Boateng.

Fish in River Nyinahin Amaano are forbidden from being eaten, either dead or alive, due to the traditional belief of people there that the fish represents the lives of people in the community.

“History on the river suggests that whenever a fish from the river dies, a life will be lost. This means that if the necessary rituals are not performed, since three fishes have died, three people will also die,” Mr Owusu bemoaned.

The leader of the youth group, Kofi Owusu, accused the Chief of Nyinahin, Nana Amampene Boateng, of not performing the necessary rituals, hence the current situation.

He appealed to Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll to come to their aid and ensure that the traditional authority in the town performs its duties effectively.