News · Michael Teye Amartey

Akwasidae festival held in honour of the late Koforidua- Effiduasehene, Nana Okoawia Dwomo Baabu.

The Queen Mother of Koforidua-Effiduase who doubles as the Nifahemaa of New Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Krobea Asantewaa Gyankoma and her council of elders have celebrated the sixth Akwasidae Festival of the year at the forecourt of the Effiduase Palace in honour of the late Effiduasehene, Nana Okoawia Dwomo Baabu who passed on last year after a short illness. 

The Akwasidae Festival is a premier celebration of the Akans , held every six weeks on a Sunday .  

Calculated using the traditional Akan calendar , the festival serves as a sacred time for ancestral reverence, spiritual continuity, and a spectacular public showcase of the Akans royalty and gold-laden pageantry. 

The elders and the visitors clad in black cloths out of respect for the ancestors.

For the Effiduase people, this is not a mere historical reenactment, it is a living, breathing bridge between the physical world and the spirits of their ancestors.

The festival was also used to plan the final funeral rites of the late Effiduasehene, Nana Okoawia Dwomo Baabu which is scheduled to take place on the 11 th to 15 th September, 2026 at the forecourt of the Koforidua-Effiduase Palace. 

The Queen Mother of Koforidua Effiduase who doubles as the Nifahemaa of New Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Krobea Asantewaa Gyankoma urged the people of the area to participate fully in the planning of the funeral rites to make it memorable. 

She further appealed to all institutions operating on the Effiduase land to contribute the funeral to give the Effiduasehene a befitting burial. 

"All schools in the area will be given a holiday on the 14 th of September while people in the area are encouraged to clad in red or black attire till the end of the funeral to honour the departed Chief", she disclosed.