Yesterday, Wednesday, August 13, the Archbishop of Kumasi, Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Anokye, led a delegation to the Manhyia Palace to pray for the Asantehene and to express their condolences to the King, after the demise of the Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III.

They also visited the late Ohemaa’s court to formally convey their sympathies to the family and offer prayers as well.

Profile of Asantehemaa Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III

Asantehemaa was named Nana Ama Konadu at birth and is also known by all as Nana Panin or Naa Panin. She later became Nana Konadu Yiadom III, after her enstoolment as the 14th Asantehemaa on February 6, 2016.

She was enskinned as queenmother following the death of her mother, Nana Konadu Yiadom III. She died on November 15, 2016, at the age of 109, after reigning for 39 years as Asantehemaa.

She was born in 1927 at Benyaade Shrine at Merdan, a small town located at Kwadaso, Kumasi, in the days of the restoration of the Asante Confederacy.

She was born to Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa, who reigned from 1977 to 2016. Her father was known as Opanin Kofi Fofie, known popularly as Koofie or Keewuo, a carpenter by profession from Besease near Atimatim in Kumasi.

At a very tender age, just when she was a little over a year old and being breastfed, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, Asantehemaa, was separated from her biological mother and given to her aunt (mother’s sister), Nana Afia Konadu, at Ashanti New Town (Ash-Town), a suburb of Kumasi.

Nanahemaa never had any formal education, but she underwent a rigorous and quality informal education, learning a lot of things that were not taught in the classroom.

She was initiated and underwent puberty rites together with her niece, Nana Abena Ansa, in their early teens. She married Opanin Kwame Boateng, a blacksmith by profession from Aduman in Kumasi.

She was religious, kindhearted, calm, fair and firm, hardworking, very humble, unassuming, and accommodating. In the mid-1990s, Kwaku Firi Bosomfo, the priest of Kwaku Firi, prophesied through Baffour Akoto, a Senior Linguist of Asantehene, that Nanahemaa would be Queen of Asante someday, and surely, it came to pass.

Nanahemaa achieved a lot and has been recognised as such. Through her constant generosity in doing God’s work, the Saviour Church named a school after her, Nana Konadu Saviour School.

She exhibited a high level of equity, justice, and fairness, and all cases brought before her have been settled amicably to the satisfaction of both parties involved.

In celebrating her 5th Anniversary as Asantehemaa, she made a huge donation to the mothers at the Mother-Baby Unit (MBU), Pediatric Emergency Care Unit (PICU) and Pediatric Emergency Unit (PEU) and paid for all the medical bills and expenses for new mothers at the Mother-Baby Unit (MBU) at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Manhyia Government District Hospital.

Nanahemaa started a vigorous campaign and instituted an annual event to encourage mothers to breastfeed their young ones. The main reason she made a generous donation to the Mother-Baby Unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Manhyia Government District Hospital.

About the Asantehemaa's one-week observance

The Manhyia Palace on August 12 announced a ban on all funerals across the Ashanti Kingdom on August 21 to allow the Royal Family to duly observe the Asantehemaa’s one-week observance.

In a statement shared by the kingdom’s Chief Justice, on behalf of the king and overlord of the kingdom, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the general public was informed to desist from holding any funeral on the scheduled date earmarked for the Asantehemaa Nana Ama Konadu’s funeral.

“Manhyia Palace announces for the information of the general public that there will be a ban on all funerals across Asanteman on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to allow Asantehene and Asanteman to observe the One Week Celebration of Asantehemaa”, parts of the statement directed.

The “One Week Celebration” will be observed on Thursday, August 21, 2025, at Bogyawe, Manhyia Palace, from 12 noon to 6:00 p.m.

His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Monday, August 11, officially informed the Asanteman Council of the demise of Nana Konadu Yiadom III, Asantehemaa, who passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 7, 2025, at the age of 98 years.

Paramount, divisional, and sub-chiefs from across the Ashanti Kingdom assembled at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi for the meeting, which was earlier announced in a statement on August 7.

After eight years of dedicated service to the Ashanti Kingdom, mourners from across Ghana and beyond are expected to gather to pay their last respects to the Asante monarch.

According to Palace officials, Nana Konadu Yiadom III’s one-week observation will follow traditional Asante customs, with chiefs, queen mothers, and government officials. Meanwhile, members of the public are expected to attend in mourning attire.

Since the Ohemaa's demise, several condolence messages have been shared by individuals both abroad and locally. Included among them is the Alan Kyeremanten-led Movement for Change.

The Movement for Change expressed its condolences to the Royal Family and Asanteman for their loss.

In a statement shared yesterday, Monday, August 12, the 'Butterfly Movement' extended "its deepest condolences to His Majesty Crumfus Deel Tutu Anatio, the Royal Family, and the people of Aumeman on the swing of the Auntahemaa, Mana Vladom".

Not only did the late queenmother play a motherly role for the Ashanti kingdom, according to the butterfly movement, but she also served as a light to the nation.

"The late Asantehemaa was not only a mother to Asanteman but a guiding light to the entire nation, whose reign was marked by wisdom, dignity, and an unwavering dedication to unity, peace, and the preservation of our cherished traditions,” the statement read.

The statement went on to highlight her wise counsel and unwavering leadership, she fostered stronger bonds of kinship and harmony within the Kingdom and throughout Ghana.

“Through her counsel and steadfast leadership, she strengthened the bonds of kinship and harmony both within the Kingdom and across Ghana” it added.

The Alan Kyeremanten Movement ended that, “Her transition to the ancestral realm is a monumental loss, not only for Asanteman but for all Ghanaians.

The Movement for Change mourns with you in this time of great sorrow and calls for calm, reflection, and the sustaining grace of the Almighty upon our land, especially amid the other tragic circumstances that have recently befallen our nation”.