'He was German, not Ghanaian' – Daddy Lumba’s wife insists on sole right to his funeral rites

The ongoing dispute over the funeral of late Highlife legend Charles Kwadwo Fosu, popularly known as Daddy Lumba, has taken another dramatic turn as his first wife, Mrs Akosua Serwah Fosu, insists she alone has the legal right to perform his widowhood rites.

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In a newly surfaced later, Mrs Fosu maintained that she is the only person legally entitled to conduct her late husband’s widowhood rites, not any family head or relative in Ghana.

Addressing Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur through her lawyer, Mr William Kusi, Esq., she argued that her late husband was a German citizen, not a Ghanaian, and therefore matters concerning his remains and funeral arrangements fall under German jurisdiction, which vests such rights exclusively in the lawful spouse and children.

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The letter included official documentation proving that Daddy Lumba renounced his Ghanaian citizenship in 2002. According to Mrs Fosu, he applied for German citizenship in 2000, which was granted, after which he formally renounced his Ghanaian citizenship through a written declaration submitted to the Ministry of the Interior via the Ghana Embassy. This process, she noted, resulted in the issuance of a Certificate of Renunciation of Ghanaian Citizenship in 2002.

Mrs Fosu emphasised that under Ghanaian law, the act of renunciation permanently ends one’s recognition as a Ghanaian citizen, thereby nullifying any associated customary family rights or obligations.

Quoting German civil law provisions, she stated that “the right to decide on burial, custody of remains, and funeral arrangements rests solely with the surviving legal spouse and children of the deceased, not with extended family members.”

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She further argued that it would be contradictory for her late husband to have been acknowledged as a German citizen throughout his lifetime, travelling the world with a German passport, only to be treated as a Ghanaian subject to customary family control after his death.

Mrs Fosu’s statement follows closely after the Kumasi High Court dismissed her injunction application seeking to halt the planned funeral, set for 6 December 2025. The ruling effectively granted permission to the family head, Mr Kofi Owusu, to proceed with the arrangements as scheduled.