South Tongu: Agortaga outdoors new queenmother after 30 years of absence of female traditional leader

The chiefs and people of Agortaga in the South Tongu district of the Volta Region have enstooled and outdoored a new queenmother for Agortaga and its affiliate communities at a colourful ceremony at Agortaga.

The event was used not only to showcase the cultural values and traditions of the people but also raise funds towards the completion of a community center project which is currently at the foundation level.

Agortaga and its affiliate communities in the Agave Traditional Area are endowed with a vast fertile land hence the inhabitants are engaged in farming, fishing and their related activities.

Though it is a rural community which has electricity and water supply to the people, the inhabitants through self-help, have initiated the community center project to improve their lot. Due to lack of funds, work on the project has slowed down for some time now.

The ceremony was attended by several chiefs and queenmothers from all walks of life including some members of the Agave Traditional Council (ATC). It also attracted some chiefs and queenmothers from the Eastern and Greater Accra regions.

Traditional drumming and dancing, singing and the display of Asafo songs and dances as well as the display of rich culture and tradition of the Agave State were at their best.

The Dufia of Agortaga and Senior Divisional Chief of the Agave State, Togbe Azilafu IV was grateful that his palace can now boast of a queenmother that would assist him accelerate the pace of development of the area.

His address was delivered by a member of the Royal Family and former Presiding Member of the South Tongu District Assembly (STDA), Hon. John Sedo Agbemabiese.

According to Togbe Azilafu IV, the absence of a queenmother in the community for the past thirty (30) years has affected his reign as a chief.

He described the event as a dream come true and called for unity and support for the new leader to deliver the goods.

‘For the past three (3) decades of my reign as Chief, I have never enjoyed the function, services and complement of a Queenmother of my own.

Throughout, I have been wondering whether I do not deserve one. So what is happening today is a dream-come-true. Sincerely, my joy knows no boundaries’, Togbe Azilafu IV lamented.

In her inaugural address, the new queenmother, Mama Dumenya II was grateful to the kingmakers, her family as well as all stakeholders for the honour done her.

According to her, completing the community centre project being championed by the Agortaga Development Movement (ADM), would be her priority.

In her view, the project would not only change the face of Agortaga but also open up the area in its developmental strides.

Mama Dumenya II also told our newsteam in an exclusive interview that she would liaise with the citizens and other stakeholders in the area to address the issue of teenage pregnancy among school girls in the area. According to her, the canker is worrying, adding that something must be done about it.

Presiding Member (PM) of the STDA and Assembly Member (AM) for the Kpenu Electoral Area, Hon. Victoria Dzeklo represented the District Chief Executive (DCE), Hon. Seth Kwesi Agbi at the event.

She commended the chiefs and people of Agortaga for their vision and initiative and called for unity among them in advancing the developmental agenda of the area.

President of the ADM, Mr. Philip Adzomani pledged his support and that of the membership of the Association to the new Queenmother and towards the total development of the community.

Paramount Queenmother of the Agave Traditional Area, Mamaga Nyagadze III who chaired the function, lauded the kingmakers for getting an occupant for the vacant stool.

She expressed concern about the neglect and disrespect to chiefs and queenmothers by some of their subjects and called for an end to the practice.

Ms. Patience Afi Vodi, now enstooled as Queenmother, Mama Dumenya II, was born on Friday, 28th October, 1977 at the Kamina Barracks Medical Centre (6th Battalion) in Tame in the Northern Region. Her father, Captain (Rtd) Emmanuel Vodi, was then the Platoon Commander/Instructor at the Ghana Armed Forces Recruit Training Centre (AFRTC), Tamale.

The mother is Madam Rose Okyere, also known as Adwoa Dufie of Asante-Effiduase in the Sekyere East District.

She is a retired staff of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), having served in that department for over thirty (30) years.

Mama started her pre-school in Tamale and later moved to South Senchi in the Eastern corridors of Ghana where her father had moved to after his retirement from the military.

She later relocated to Accra to stay with her mother and subsequently enrolled at the Bishop Girls’ Anglican School where she completed and continued her Secondary School Education at the Salem Senior High School at Osu, Accra.

After completion, she went to the Young Women Christian Association (YMCA) to pursue diploma in Catering and completed in 1977.

She did her attachment at the Jara Restaurant in Accra and later also worked as a Caterer in various prestigious places until she ventured into selling of Artifacts at the Arts Centre in Accra till now.

Mama Dumenya II has six (6) siblings of which she is the third born. Her siblings are Olivia Vodi, Smith Vodi, Mercy Vodi, Mawunyega Vodi, Ruth Abla Vodi and Margaret Vodi.

She also has cousins some of whom are resident in Washington, United States of America (USA) and Accra, Ghana.

Mama has six (6) children namely Priscilla Nana Gyamfua, Nhyira Snr. Frimpong, Nhyira Jnr. Frimpong, Nana Kwadwo Frimpong, Rose Frimpong and Olivia Frimpong.

Mama Dumenya II is an honest person, loving, caring and a God-fearing person. She is hardwoprking and does not play with her work.

Credit: Akukorku media consult