9 Yrs In "Confinement"; PeaceFm Gives To 3 "Liberated" Widows

A year ago, PeaceFm helped in uncovering the plight of three widows who had been held indoors for almost 9 years after the death of their husband who was a traditional ruler at New Longlo, in the Brong Ahafo Region. The three (3) widows, Sarah Yaa Nsiah, 92, the eldest and first wife, Martha Afia Nkodie, 82, the 2nd wife, and Mercy Ama Somuaah, 77, who is the third wife, were all held indoors for about 9 years as custom demanded, since the final burial rites had not been held for their husband. The story, which was first aired on Peace Fm�s morning show, �Kokrokoo�, was about the forceful and wrongful detention of the three elderly women at New Longlo in the Kintampo North District in the Brong Ahafo. Following the story, the three widows were freed from detention, granting them the freedom to go about their normal duties. Speaking to Kwami Sefa-Kayi on �Kokrokoo�, after Peace Fm�s Kintampo Correspondent, Odehunufo Jackson had investigated and reported on the matter, the youngest and last of the three widows; Mercy Ama Somuaah expressed her gratitude to Peace Fm, the traditional rulers and all those who saw to it that they were freed. Sadly, the three elderly women, were each given an amount of GH�50.00 and some tubers of yam, by the head of their family after the funeral rites were performed. The �domestic imprisonment� of the three women was meant to last until the performance of the final funeral rites of their late husband, which was to follow the enstoolment of a new chief. Collaboration between the Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs and the Ministry of Women and Children�s Affairs, led to the setting of a date for the funeral of the late Omanhene of the Mo traditional area, Nana Kwaku Dimpo. The Regional House of Chiefs brokered a peace deal between the Krontihene of the Mo traditional area, Nana Adjei Adinkra, and the Kyidomhene Nana Kwame Adjei, which led to the installation of the Krontihene as the acting president of the Mo Traditional Council. Following the death of the late chief of New Longlo, Nana Kwaku Dimpong nine years ago, the three women had been confined to one house, where they were compelled to stay. Unfortunately a dispute about the enstoolment of the new chief had delayed the performance of the final funeral rites. That is why the three women, the youngest being septuagenarian, were confined to one room for the past 9 years with no freedom to go anywhere. They were not even allowed to go outside the house in which they were confined. They were locked up in their room at six every evening so they could not go to their farms or market, nor visit their children or relatives. Neither could they even attend the funerals of their relatives and friends. These were all in accordance with Mo customary widowhood rites, which said that by tradition, until the final funeral rites are performed, widows of the late chief must remain in confinement.