Kumasi turns 'ghost town' as Otumfuo imposes curfew

The streets of Kumasi are deserted completely following a curfew imposed by the Asanteman Council instructing residents to stay indoors from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to observe the final funeral rites of the late Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwa Ampem II.

This is to allow for a special ceremony to be performed by the Asantehene and the new Asantehemaa for the late queen mother.

No one is to be seen on the streets of Kumasi at 9 p.m.; all shops and other businesses are not expected to operate when the curfew comes into force, but photos available to GhanaWeb shows the usually busy streets of the Garden City deserted as the curfew took effect.

According to historians, the curfew is imposed at a time the Asantehene and new Asantehemaa pays a visit to the cemetery where the late queen mother was buried and present certain items including an effigy of the late queen mother.

This ritual is supposed to be a private ceremony hence the decision to impose the curfew.

The final funeral rites for the late queen mother commenced on the 1st December and will end on the 11th of December 2017.

Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II died in November 2016, at the age of 111.

She was the Asantehemaa for 39 years. She was enstooled in 1977 as the 13th queen mother of the Asante Kingdom after the late Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko II who reigned from 1945 to 1977.