Great Ampong dismisses claims Daddy Lumba was bedridden for 17 years

Gospel artiste Isaiah Kwadwo Ampong, widely known as Great Ampong, has refuted reports suggesting that the late highlife legend Daddy Lumba had been bedridden for 17 years prior to his passing.

During an interview with Ola Michael on Neat FM on 8 December 2025, Ampong acknowledged that Lumba had endured a serious illness but stressed that the public claims about the length of his condition were grossly overstated.

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Ampong explained that his association with the celebrated musician began in 2012, after one of Lumba’s stage performances. He recalled: “I met Daddy Lumba after his performance at one of his shows. He told me he had been looking for me and he was so happy. He lifted me up in the presence of Roman Fada. He said to me that if Ghanaians knew what’s in me, they would lift me up as he did, and that was in 2012.”

According to Ampong, he made frequent attempts to visit Lumba at home, but was often informed that the musician was not available. Nearly two years later, he was finally invited to the house, only to discover that Lumba was gravely unwell and reliant on a wheelchair. “I used to go to his house to check on him but they always said he wasn’t around. Almost two years later, Daddy Lumba called me and asked me to come home. When I got there, he was sick and in a wheelchair,” he said.

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Ampong revealed that the family had deliberately kept Lumba’s condition private. The musician himself reportedly confided in him about the severity of his suffering. “I realised they didn’t want anyone to know he was sick, that’s why they always said he wasn’t around. He said the pain he was going through was so severe that he sometimes wished he could end it all and he asked me to get him a powerful pastor,” he recounted.

He further disclosed that Lumba discreetly monitored his visits through CCTV cameras but insisted that no one be allowed to see him because of how weak he had become. “He used to watch me on the CCTV cameras whenever I visited, but he was the one who told them not to allow anyone to see him because of his condition,” Ampong added.

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Rejecting circulating claims that Lumba had been bedridden for nearly two decades, Ampong maintained that such narratives were entirely false. “Those saying he was sick and bedridden for 17 years should stop spreading lies. I know he wasn’t as strong as he was when he lifted me up, but he wasn’t sick in the way people are claiming,” he insisted.

He clarified that, from what Lumba personally told him, the period during which he was bedridden was closer to two years. “According to what he told me, he was bedridden for close to two years. Odo Broni, who was taking care of him, was the one who served me when I visited,” he said.

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Ampong concluded that he had initially chosen not to speak publicly following Lumba’s death, but felt compelled to intervene after hearing what he described as false and sensationalised accounts. “I preferred not to speak after his death but hearing the lies people are fabricating made me want to explain things properly,” he stated.