What began as a mother’s attempt to help a daughter has spiraled into a heartbreaking family disaster, leaving 71-year-old Maame Nyamekye homeless, rejected, and emotionally crushed.
She appeared on the Nhyira FM’s Obra Show, hosted by Ohemaa Benewaa, pleading for peace and stability in what she described as the final years of her life. “I am old and tired… I just want a place to lay my head,” she said through tears.
According to Maame Nyamekye, she withdrew ₵23,500 from her younger daughter’s account — an account registered in her name — to help her elder daughter, Maame Cecilia, resolve a crisis at work.
“She begged me, and I trusted her. She promised she would return the money in just a few weeks,” she explained. “I didn’t tell the one abroad because I didn’t know Cecilia wouldn’t pay on time. They have never been on speaking terms, so I believed she wouldn’t put me in trouble. Little did I know I was bringing fire upon myself.”
The trouble began when her younger daughter returned from abroad with her husband to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday, only to discover that the money was missing.
“My daughter got angry. She said I betrayed her trust. I tried to explain, but she didn’t listen,” Maame Nyamekye said. “She told my granddaughter she would drive me out of her house. Though she didn’t, I felt so guilty that I packed my things and left.” Since then, she has been moving from place to place, and now finds herself completely homeless—taking shelter only at the home of a friend of her eldest child.
The elderly woman recounted the hardships of her early life, revealing that she gave birth to her first child at age 14 while still in school. “I was a small girl who didn’t even know how to take care of myself, but I had to care for a child,” she said. “I stopped school because of her. My mother supported me, but life was very hard.” She later gave birth to her second daughter, and when her relationship with their father ended, she was left alone with both children.
Despite the struggle, she raised them, and over the years, her younger daughter travelled abroad and became her main source of support—sending money regularly, paying her bills, and even building her a house.
Life seemed stable until the ₵23,500 incident tore the family apart.
When the issue was brought to the Obra Show, host Ohemaa Benewaa attempted to contact Maame Cecilia, the eldest daughter who owed the money, but she initially refused to speak. This prompted Ohemaa to issue a stern public message: “Madam, this is your mother’s life we are talking about. It will be better for you to come out of your shell so the matter can be resolved peacefully. Otherwise, we will pursue other means.”
The story took a dramatic turn the next morning when the Obra crew arrived at the station to find Maame Cecilia seated quietly at the doorstep. The same woman who had refused calls now insisted on speaking.
She admitted owing the money but declared coldly, “I won’t pay all. I have also given my mother money before. I will deduct everything I spent on her.”
Her words stunned listeners, but what followed was even more shocking. In front of cameras and presenters, she insulted her mother repeatedly—calling her a witch, a curse on her life, and a woman who had never cared for her.
She claimed her mother never attended her wedding and had shown her no love while she was growing up. Tears streamed down Maame Nyamekye’s face as she listened in silence. Then, with a voice heavy with pain, she said,
“I got pregnant with my own enemy. I gave birth to her, and she has been tormenting me ever since.”
The Obra panel—Evangelist Degraft Addae, Gifty Donkor, and Lady Gold—could no longer remain calm.
Evangelist Degraft Addae exclaimed, “How do you treat your 71-year-old mother like this? Even if she wronged you, is this how you repay her?”
Lady Gold added, “You took her money. She is sleeping outside because of you. And you still have the confidence to insult her?”
Gifty Donkor confronted her further: “If your mother dies because of this stress, will you be able to live with yourself?”
Ohemaa Benewaa delivered the final blow: “So you want to replace years of pain with a ₵23,500 loan that has made your own mother homeless?”
Under intense pressure and public scrutiny, Maame Cecilia finally relented.
“Fine. I will pay the money. Give me two weeks,” she said.
Despite everything, Maame Nyamekye insisted she held no bitterness. “She is my child. Even if she hates me, I cannot hate her. I just want peace,” she said. Her deepest wish now is to be welcomed back by her younger daughter abroad, whose anger has kept her away since the incident. “I need her forgiveness. I want her to take me back,” she said quietly.
At the end of the adjudication, Ohemaa Benewaa assured her, saying, “We will speak to your child abroad. We will explain everything and apologise on your behalf.” She also promised, “We will make sure you get a safe place to stay. You will not sleep outside again.”
Listeners called in with shock, sympathy, and anger, expressing disbelief that a woman of her age is facing such suffering.
As the Obra team prepares to follow up with both daughters, a painful question lingers: How did ₵23,500 become more important than a mother who sacrificed her future at age 14? The nation watches, listens, and hopes that in the end, reconciliation—not resentment—will have the final word for Maame Nyamekye and her family.
Source: Hannah Addae