Asanteman Bans All Funerals On Thursday August 21

THE ONE-week observation of the late Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, will be held on Thursday, August 21, 2025 and the Manhyia Palace has placed a ban on all funerals across the Asanteman Kingdom on the said date.

An official statement issued on the letter head of Manhyia Palace, dated Tuesday August 12, 2025 and signed by  Amb. Nana Effah-Apentengm, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Palace noted:

“His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, on Monday, August 11, 2025, officially informed the Asanteman Council of the demise of Nana Konadu Yiadom IlI, Asantehemaa, who passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

“The One Week Celebration will be observed on Thursday, August 21, 2025 at Bogyawe, Manhyia Palace from 12 noon to 6:00 p.m.

“Manhyia Palace announces for the information of the general public that there will be a ban on all funerals across Asanteman on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to allow Asantehene and Asanteman observe the One Week Celebration of Asantehemaa.”

One-Week observance is a significant customary practice among the Akans and is to be held seven days after the death of a loved one. It is attended by family, friends and community members where plans for the funeral and other announces are formally made known.

The revered Asante Queen, who was 98 years old, visited her ancestors after short illness in the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who announced the sad news, said the unexpected demise of the Asantehemaa had hit him and Asanteman hard.

According to him, the late queen was in good health but she suddenly fell sick in the palace on Thursday afternoon, which eventually claimed her precious life.

Otumfuo stated that he was supposed to travel to abroad but he had to cancel the important trip in order to stay back in the planning of the queen’s funeral.

He noted that the one-week observation of the queen “would be held at the forecourt of the Manhyia Palace on August 21, 2025”, urging the chiefs to attend.

The Asantehene, who was in a pensive mood, was addressing the Asanteman Traditional Council (ATC) in the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Monday afternoon.

According to him, the death of the queen is a great loss to the kingdom so the Asanteman Traditional Council has suspended all its activities, henceforth.

“All activities of the Asanteman Traditional Council have been suspended until further notice, starting from today”, Otumfuo informed the gathering of chiefs.

He also said the programme for the final funeral rites of Nana Konadu Yiadom, the deceased queen, would be announced after the one-week celebrations.

Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III was enstooled as the 14th Asantehemaa in 2017, succeeding the late Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, who died in late 2016.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and Nana Konadu Yiadom III are direct siblings with the late Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kofi Serwaa Ampem II, as their biological mother.

Nana Ama Konadu III’s eight-year reign as the 14th Asantehemaa was marked by peace and transformation in the Asante Kingdom and beyond.

She was widely regarded by her subjects and the powerful chiefs in Asanteman as very accommodating person, who had the interest of the kingdom at heart.

Meanwhile, the death of the revered Asante queen has sparked sad scenes in Kumasi and other parts of the Asante Kingdom, which dates back to four centuries.