The pre-burial funeral and funeral of the late Nana Yaa Pomaa, the 'Abesimhemaa' (Queenmother) ended peacefully, at Abesim, near Sunyani over the weekend.

Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr. Agyemang-Badu II, the paramount chief of Dormaa and overlord of Abesim, joined scores of mourners to give the late queen mother a befitting farewell at the Abesim local Roman School Park, the funeral grounds.

Other mourners included politicians, former ministers of state, the clergy and other chiefs and queens from all walks of life.

The late Nana Pomaa who ascended the Abesim Queenship stool in 1978 occupied the stool for 43 years and she passed on in 2021 after a short illness. She was 66 years.

As tradition and custom demand, the late queen was buried late-night Saturday at the Abesim Royal Mausoleum to join her ancestors after she was laid in state publicly at the Abesim Palace on Friday for the hundreds of mourners to pay their last respect.

Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr Agyemang-Badu II and Odeneho Dr Akosua Frema Dwaben II, the Paramount Queenmother of Dormaa performed traditional rites in secret before the body was later put into a casket for burial.

The ‘Dotoyie’ (pre-burial funeral) turned the Abesim Township into a state of sorrow as the royals mostly clad in red apparel and traditional regalia, filled, sang dirges and paraded the Abesim Township.

 It was however hectic for the heavy police personnel deployed to maintain law and order to control the unusual human and vehicular traffic in the Abesim township.

Traditional warriors, mostly from the Dormaaa Tradional Area, were also not left out of the "Dotoyie" (pre-burial funeral), when they fired sporadic musketries to scare onlookers.

Speaking in an interview with Sompa FM Nana Kyei Nketiah, the Adontenhene of Abesim and the Chairman of the Funerals Committee described the late queen as development oriented who contributed immensely toward the development of Abesim Township and the Dormaa Traditional Area in general.

“In fact she was a preserver of our tradition and culture and we must ensure that she gets a befitting traditional burial and interment as she joins her ancestors”, he added.

 Nana Nketiah advised the youth of the town to shun all unhealthy practices and lifestyle such as alcoholism and drug abuse in order not to land themselves in trouble as they mourned the late queen.

He said the burial of the late queen would pave the way for the installation of a successor who would then lead to chiefs and people of the area to hold a befitting final funeral rite for the late queen.

Nana Nketiah described the entire pre-burial funeral programme which started on Tuesday with clean-up exercise as a success, and on-behalf of the chiefs and people of the Dormaa Traditional Area expressed appreciation to all and sundry who in diverse ways contributed to the success of the programme.