Stirring tributes were paid to late dancehall artist, Priscilla Opoku Kwarteng, known in showbiz as Ebony Reigns, at a memorial service at the fore court of the State House on Saturday to bid her farewell.
Many mourners defied the threat of rain and thronged the venue to pay their last respect to the ‘Maame Hwe’ hit-maker, who was remembered for a sparkling but short-lived musical career.
Madam Akosua Frema Osei Opare, the Chief of staff, Catherine Afeku, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture; former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, Members of Parliament, ministers of state, actors and actresses, and musicians among other celebrities joined hundreds of mourners who took turns to file past the remains of the 21-year-old Dancehall queen.
Before the clergy prayed for her peaceful rest, family members, the Mamfe Methodist Girls Senior High, MUSIGA, RuffTown Records, management, and friends poured in tributes showing how respectful and hardworking Ebony was.
Apart from the heavy security presence, another noticeable thing was the attire by most of the mourners; the ‘Maame hwe’ cloth, one of the two official cloths for the funeral.
Nana Hemaa, as she was affectionately called by her close associates, was laid to rest at the Osu Cemetry after the memorial service at 1400 hours.
Dr Lawrence Tetteh, an International Evangelist, in a sermon, admonished the gathering to consider death as inevitable, adding that it was important for Ghanaians to live moral and holy lives.
There will be a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday at the same venue with mourners expected to wear the ‘Aseda’ cloth.
A tribute concert was held on Friday night organised by RuffTown Records, in collaboration with the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Kasapreko Company Limited, which was to raise funds for the Ebony Foundation.
The concert saw performances from Sarkodie, Edem, VIP, R2Bees, Kofi Kinaata, Kwabena Kwabena among many other musicians.
Born on February 16, 1997, Ebony Reigns died in a gory road accident on Thursday, February 8, 2018 on the Sunyani-Kumasi stretch.
Her death shook the nation with tributes pouring in from politicians, academia, the showbiz fraternity and well-wishers, with some colleagues releasing songs in her honour.
In the two years she spent in the music industry, Ebony won the hearts of many Ghanaians with hit songs like: Aseda, Maame Hwe, Hustle, Sponsor, Date Your Father, Poison, Dancefloor and Kupe.
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