Kumasi High court told Daddy Lumba died a German national, not Ghanaian

The nationality of legendary highlife musician Charles Kwadwo Fosu, popularly known as Daddy Lumba, has emerged as a key point of contention in an ongoing case before a Kumasi High Court.

Born on September 29, 1964, at Nsuta in the Ashanti Region to Johnson Kwadwo Fosu and Ama Saa (also known as Comfort Gyamfi), Daddy Lumba spent his early years in Ghana. Both parents were teachers, and he attended Juaben Senior High School, where he studied agricultural science and was described by his teachers as a brilliant student.

He discovered his musical talent in the 1980s and later moved to Germany in 1996, where his career flourished. In 2004, he contracted a civil ordinance marriage with Akosua Serwaa Fosuh in Bornheim, Germany.

His mother, a spiritual pillar for whom he composed many songs, died on December 21, 2001, at the age of 55 at the Military Hospital in Kumasi. Daddy Lumba passed away at age 60 at the Bank Hospital in Accra.

Proceedings from a civil suit filed by Akosua Serwaa Fosuh—who is seeking a court declaration that she is the only surviving wife and the sole person entitled to perform widowhood rites—have brought renewed attention to the highlife icon’s nationality.

She is also asking the court to restrain Priscilla Ofori, also known as Odo Broni, from presenting herself as the late musician’s wife.

In court, counsel for the applicant, William Kusi, cross-examined the head of the Ekuona family at Parkoso, Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu—the 1st defendant in the matter—on whether he knew Daddy Lumba’s nationality at the time of his death.

The witness responded that Daddy Lumba “was a Ghanaian at the time of his death.”

Counsel William Kusi, however, suggested to him that the late musician “was a German national and not Ghanaian.”

The court is expected to deliver its ruling on Friday, November 28, 2025.