The untold story of how J.J. Rawlings influenced popular funeral song ‘Adwoa Pinamang’

There are songs that define moments, events and times and Nana Adomako Nyamekye’s Adwoa Pinamang track is undoubtedly one of those that define funeral ceremonies in Ghana, particularly in Akan societies.

Hardly will you attend a Ghanaian funeral without this melodious dirge being blasted through the speakers at the ceremony. Adwoa Pinamang is a beautiful song that details the sad story of a man living abroad who is unable to fly down to Ghana to mourn the death of his beloved.

Most people always equate the song to be a tribute from Nana Adomako Nyamekye to either his late wife or sister but the inspiration behind the song has now been revealed.

According to popular social media content creator, Braa Emmanuel who specializes in breaking down old Ghanaian hi-life and gospel song, the song was actually a message from Adomako Nyamekye to the wife his younger brother by name Abu Kwesi.

The lady whose name was Miriam Adwoa Pinamang was held in a high esteem by Adomako Nyamekye and it hurt him that he would not be able to come down to Ghana and pay his last respect to her.

Why Nana Adomako Nyamekye could not travel to Ghana for the funeral

For the uninitiated, Nana Adomako Nyamekye was one of many officers of the Ghana Armed Forces who had to seek exile in various countries to escape being killed by Jerry John Rawlings and his cohorts who made up the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.



As detailed by Adomako Nyamekye in 2013, he and some junior military officers had to flee the country after they escaped from jail in various prisons.

According to him there was determination by the Rawlings regime to eliminate him and a host of others for allegedly failing to act on the orders of Rawlings to kill Dr Hilla Limann.

He thus had to ran to the UK where he had an uncle who took him in and ensured that he never came to Ghana until he was convinced of his safety in the country.

While in exile, Adomako Nyamekye heard of the demise of his sister-in-law but as much as he would have loved to come down, he just couldn’t due to fear of being arrested and killed by the Rawlings administration.

Watch interview here



Which part of the song did he subtly mention Rawlings

In the song, he revealed the cause of the death of his sister-in-law and also threw jabs at the Rawlings administration for his inability to come down to Ghana.

A part of the song as translated reads “I will visit my beloved’s grave and pour libation whenever it will be appropriate for me to come home. I will do that because I couldn’t attend her funeral when she died. I wish I could come but I had been surrounded by a big river and I couldn’t cross that.”

According to the interpreter, the river as mentioned by Nana Adomako was a figurative expression that meant that he couldn’t come to Ghana because Rawlings was still in charge of the country. He feared that if he came to Ghana, he would be killed.

Watch the breakdown below

@braa_emmanuel ADOMAKO NYAMEKYE Adwoa penamag break down #viral #fyp #viralvideo #Ghana #nanaadomakonyamekye #adomakonyamekye #adwopenama ♬ original sound - Emmanuel Agyemang