A 33-year old professional physical therapist, Akosua Akoto, says she is proud to be a traditionalist after graduating as a fetish priestess (Okomfo) in a ceremony held at Oyoko, near Koforidua.
The African-American arrived in Ghana from Washington, DC, USA, after having gone through a three year training program under the instructions of Akomfo Nana Kwasi Oppong, a Ghanaian based in the USA.
According to her, she grew up among a family that was already in the African cultural setup, where music, food, and dance were not in short supply. At age four, Okomfo Akosua visited Ghana in the company of her mother, Nana Okomfo Afia Eson Bonsu. They were received at Nana Sankofa Shrine, at Oyoko, near Koforidua.
Being a university degree holder and a US citizen has not affected me in any way, as Okomfo and or my career as a professional Physical Therapist, she said, adding that it has rather helped me.
Nana Akosua is also the seventh child of her father and comes from a generation of Akomfo. She is the first daughter, and his younger brother, Akwasi, is also ‘Obrafo’.
Her mother, Nana Okomfo Afia Eson Bonsu, got the motivation from her grandmother to be Okomfo.
The African culture gave me everything: health, food, and plant-medicine, as well as spiritual wellness, she said.
She trained under Nana Dinizulu 41 years ago. She and Nana Kwasi Oppong work with the Council of Independent Black African Institutions in the States promoting African culture: dance, drumming, growing own food and practicing spiritual wellness and the worship of deities.
Okomfo Afia is experienced in the Yoruba Dance, while Okomfo Nana Kwasi Oppong brings on board, the Akan ‘Dance’ from Ghana.
It is a match of the two that is currently thought in the USA, which resulted in the graduation for Okomfo Akosua, the 33-year old in Oyoko recently.
From Ghana, Okomfo Nana Kwasi Oppong’s deities are ‘Esuo Adosua’ and ‘Boku Adakua’ which are the ancestoral gods of Nana Sankofa owned by Adwuroye Okomfo Fie family of Oyoko, near Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
Some 20 years ago, Okomfo Nana Kwasi Oppong left for the USA. When he was going, he took the practice of ‘Okomfo’ along. There he found people who were interested in authentic fetish practice, and he began training the would-be ‘Akomfo’, after which he returned to Ghana with them for the final ceremony.
He has since gained a significant foothold in the diaspora, particularly among Americans of African descent in the USA. According to him, Oyoko will be designated as the preferred shrine for spiritual rebirth and consecration after their training and ‘possession’ since it is from here that the deities have manifested in a faraway land, the USA. Okomfo Nana Yaw and his team are putting Africa on the global map, as the Okomfo without boundaries.