The Akwapim Mountain recording studio and residence of Rita Marley, widow of reggae legend Bob Marley, was a scene of tragedy Saturday night when fire swept through the house and gutted the entire structure.
Property consumed by the fire, which raged throughout the night, was valued at $20 million, according to the wife of the late reggae superstar, who arrived in the country barely a week ago after a foreign trip.
This latest inferno is coming on the heels of similar devastating fires that gutted public and private edifices such as the official bungalow of former President Jerry John Rawlings, Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, Electoral Commission offices, Ministry of Information and Tema Oil Refinery among others.
Located at a place called French Line, not far from Aburi in the Akwapim South District of the Eastern Region, the Rita Marley Recording Studio was stocked with materials of tourist potential.
The multi-million-dollar studio which housed most of Bob Marley’s original tapes, was due for commissioning late last year, but the event had to be postponed to allow Rita Marley to attend to some personal issues in the USA.
In her narration to DAILY GUIDE, Rita Marley said the fire was detected at about 6:30pm on the first floor of the building, but soon spread ‘wildly’ to the soundproof recording hall and adjoining portions of the structure.
Rita said her staff on location at the time quickly called the personnel of a nearby Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) who in turn sought the intervention of their counterparts in Mampong-Akwapim.
A devastated Rita Marley expressed concern about what for her was the unprofessionalism exhibited by personnel of the Fire Service and prayed the authorities to do something about the situation.
She observed that the fire scene was only a stone’s throw away from the Mampong fire station, yet they were unable to stop the fire before the damage.
She said despite the calamity, she was not daunted and promised to gather herself and re-start the project, which according to her, aside its tourist potential, would be a source of employment to the youth.
Rita Marley is the queen of Konkonuru, a title bestowed on her by the local traditional authorities, most of who trooped to the place to sympathise with her over the calamity.
Among them were the Chief of Aburi, Nana Otubuor Nana Djan Kwasi II and the Chief of Konkonuru, Nana Ansah Addo.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the fire scene, palls of smoke could still be seen even though the worst was over at the time.
Hordes of sympathizers from all walks of life including the Rastafarian community, turned up at the location to witness the effect of the fire.
Rita Marley had been in and out of Ghana after her virtual relocation to the country and the commencement of the studio project, following her husband’s death.
She has blended in with the locals so well that the traditional community continues to consider her as one of their own; hence the bestowal of the chieftaincy title on her. The 64-year-old married Bob in 1966 and has 6 children.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=182689
first they kill luckey dube to rob him for what a few dollars,ghana seems like a nice place to reconnect with your roots if your comming from the carribean, north america or south america,the local thugs do not care about this,i recomend all returnees to watch you tubes video( ghana comming home) it will help you to understand the way of life in and around ghana,sorry ms rita had this loss,keep your head up im sure she has rebuilt and got better security.
Hi rastalivewire:
My name is Hamza.i read a few paragraphs.not long ago about,how black people accept the term being called black and not embracing their africanism and not proud of it.their was a article simply about someone responding to that term black and saying that,if your somalian there is a country in africa called somali,if your eritrean there is a country called erutrea,but the term black where is there a country in africa,called black there’s not ,this is a derogatory term a belittleish term,and its true its a no respect desciption of african americans.when you learn better you can better be in charge of your identity.all it takes is for african americans to DNA test their blood lines and claim it because it is there,i know because i did it.and now i have independence everyday because of finding out and being empowered to my description bloodline.im not blacked any more by anyone i just simply tell them about me being multiracial.i just want to tell it to,from my fathers genes,im Ethiopian,Somalian,Eritrean,North African Berber/Arab.my mom genes that i have,Im Equarorial Guinean,Mozambique,Senegalese,Maritanian.none of this was known about myself until the DNA Gene test told me that these are my genes,so this takes me out of the black box that i’ve been described to be in,so by DNA testing never lying and always being truthfuit is what it is.if other african americans do this it will take a big burden away and they will start feeling more better and empowered about themselves.the point also is african americans dont know of how much today they are in charge of their own empowerment.take back your identity,this means alot.We have to be willing to change and accept our own community issues and stop being so angy and violent,be deligent,intellegent just as ony other people.when it comes down to african american bloodlines we are all gypsies that come from different walks of life,some more arabic than others some more bantu than others,afrca is something to be proud of i know i am when i found my bloodline.