A dispute over who should control the burial arrangements for the late musician Daddy Lumba has now moved squarely into the courts, where a High Court judge in Accra has issued orders halting all preparations until the underlying family conflict is settled.
The injunction, granted at the request of Daddy Lumba’s maternal relatives, prevents the first respondent, family head Kofi Owusu, from moving ahead with any burial plans. The court also restricted Transitions Funeral Home, the third respondent, from releasing the body until the litigation is concluded.
In its decision, the court said the affidavits before it indicated that the musician’s immediate family had been left out of key funeral discussions. It stressed that the claims required careful examination before any burial could lawfully proceed.
The judge, according to a Citinewsroom report, noted that postponing the funeral could raise expenses but emphasised that proper family participation and procedural fairness were essential. The ruling reaffirmed the authority of the family head to oversee funeral rites while making clear that such authority must be exercised in consultation with the immediate family.
The judge ordered the first respondent to organise a stakeholder meeting within three weeks to agree on a fresh burial date. The ruling also instructed that all funds collected for the funeral be separated from accounts belonging to the Daddy Lumba Memorial Foundation. The applicants were further directed to file an affidavit with the registrar.
Tensions over the musician’s July 26, 2025, death, at age 60, have grown into a broader clash between his maternal kin and the family head, each asserting a different level of control over the ceremony and its finances. The dispute reflects longstanding Akan traditions that assign substantial authority to the maternal lineage in burial matters.
