William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth over 400 years ago, but if you watch what is happening after Daddy Lumba’s death, you would think he was writing about Ghana in 2025.
Macbeth teaches us that guilt can never be silenced.
He arranged the murder of his friend Banquo, yet he still had the courage to call for Banquo at the royal banquet. He wanted to appear innocent. He wanted to sit on his throne and feast like a king while his friend lay dead.
But blood does not work like that. Custom does not work like that.
At that banquet, Banquo’s ghost appeared. Only Macbeth could see it. He panicked, he screamed, and he disgraced himself before all his elders and chiefs. From that night, fear, guilt and spiritual torment consumed him and led to his downfall.
Thank you, William Shakespeare, for this timeless wisdom: a troubled conscience is the harshest judge, and hidden deeds never remain buried forever.
THE BANQUET AFTER DADDY LUMBA
Now look at Daddy Lumba.
Our legend, Charles Kwadwo Fosu, is gone. But what have we seen since his death? A banquet of confusion.
People who claim they loved him are now feasting on his name. Press conferences here, TikTok Live there, interviews everywhere. Some who could not live with him in peace are now fighting over how to bury him. They are calling his name at their own banquet, just like Macbeth called Banquo.
But like Banquo’s ghost, Daddy Lumba’s ghost is showing up.
Anytime they sit to feast on his legacy, guilt appears. You see it in their conflicting stories. You see it in their fear. You see it in how angry they get when simple questions are asked. You see it in their desperate rush to prove, “I was the real wife,” “I was married,” “I am the Abusuapanin,” “I was the real manager,” “I am the real family.”
Why are they shaking at their own banquet? Because a troubled conscience is the harshest judge.
HIDDEN DEEDS NEVER STAY BURIED
In Asante custom, we believe that when a great man dies with pain in his heart, his sunsum does not rest. It watches.
Daddy Lumba sang about pain, about love, about betrayal and death. Many of his songs were confessions. Now that he is gone, those who hurt him while he was alive cannot silence their guilt.
Macbeth thought killing Banquo would bring him peace. It brought him torment.
Some people thought that when Daddy Lumba died, all secrets about his money, his property, how he was treated when he was sick, and who truly stood by him would be buried with him.
But Shakespeare was right: hidden deeds never remain buried forever.
Today, the more they talk, the more they expose themselves. Every interview brings a new lie. Every TikTok Live brings a new ghost.
THE LESSON FOR ASANTEMAN
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has just destooled a chief who had been on the stool for 89 years, proving that custom is bigger than any man. That is Asante justice.
But there is also spiritual justice – the justice Macbeth faced.
You can deceive Ghanaians on radio. You can deceive social media with fake tears. But you cannot deceive the ghost at the banquet table. You cannot deceive your own conscience.
Those who truly loved Daddy Lumba are mourning him quietly, with dignity, with respect for Maame Akosua Serwaa Fosuh and with respect for Asante tradition.
Those who are guilty are the ones shouting loudest at the banquet.
And like Macbeth, their shouting, their fear and their torment will lead to their own downfall.
Because Lumba may be dead, but his music, his spirit, and his truth are still sitting at the table, staring directly at them.
Alexander Afriyie, supervising editor, ghanacrimereport.com and ghanatalk.com