Hundreds of mourners, music lovers, cultural custodians and dignitaries have converged on the iconic Baba Yara Sports Stadium this morning as final funeral rites for highlife legend Charles Kwadwo Fosu, affectionately known as Daddy Lumba, unfold.
Months of legal dispute threatened to overshadow today’s ceremony after a High Court injunction briefly halted preparations, with interlocutory orders and family disagreements over burial authority making national headlines.
By dawn, the sprawling stadium had been transformed into a ground of tribute.
Colourful stalls lined entrance routes where vendors hawked memorabilia: T-shirts embossed with Daddy Lumba’s faces, caps and printed programs evoking his decades-long impact on Ghanaian culture.
The familiar rhythms of highlife, many of them Lumba classics, filled the air.
Mourners clasped songbooks, softly singing along to timeless hits, weaving joy and grief in equal measure.
Across the grounds, the atmosphere was reflective but determinedly celebratory. Elderly fans wiped tears as youth swayed to the music, a generational chorus underscoring Lumba’s reach.
A carriage rolled in carrying the casket containing the body of the late music legend.
Many attendees wore traditional funeral cloth in muted colors, while some donned bandanas and accessories bearing the legend’s iconic image.
NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Ashanti Regional Minister, Frank Amoakohene, and the Abusuapanyin Kofi Owusu were all notably present.
Nana Acheampong, overcome with emotion, delivers a heavy-hearted performance of the first song he composed with Daddy Lumba.
Inside the stadium stands, families and friends exchanged stories of Lumba’s influence, from soundtracks to heartbreaks, celebrations to daily life.
The palpable mix of grief, nostalgia and gratitude shaped every corner of the arena.
The funeral’s public culmination comes after the Accra High Court temporarily halted preparations amid a dispute involving segments of Lumba’s extended family and the designated family head.
But with legal deadlines unmet and court orders modified, authorities confirmed the rites are happening as scheduled.
