Kumasi Goes Silent Again

Kumasi Goes Silent Again For the third time in just four years, the city of Kumasi and its environs fell dead silent. In January 2017 during the burial of the late Asantehemaa, the city and its environs experienced a day of ceremonial silence in reverence for the solemn transportation of the remains of the late Queen to her ancestral village.

Then in March 2020 when the covid lockdown was declared on the city and its environs, another moment of legislated silence was observed. Sunday, June 27, 2021, will also be marked in the annals of Ashanti history as another day that the city and its environs fell silent due to the painful defeat of Asante Kotoko Football Club at the hands of their arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak in Accra.

In a much-touted football match dubbed the “Clash of the Titans”, which results could produce the likely winner of this year’s Premier League competition, saw Accra Hearts of Oak humiliate the “Porcupine Warriors” with a lone goal victory and silenced the city of Kumasi to a mournful muteness.

A visitor to the city, oblivious of the crucial match being played, was unlikely to know there was such an event taking place due to the unsettling suppression of joy visited on places such as Ejisu, Kwamo, Adoko Jachie, Bantama, Asokwa, Ashtown, Abrepo, Atonsu, and others, well known for noisy football following and strong support bases of Asante Kotoko.

Streets were virtually empty of traffic and the few people who could venture outdoors went about their businesses as though nothing serious had taken place that they knew of. In a private chat with a board member of Asante Kotoko Football Club, it was revealed that this year’s defeat by Hearts of Oak was most painful.

Another trader lamented that the already slow-paced business in Kumasi was going to be more affected this week due to the low morale of many supporters caused by the defeat. Supporters of Accra Hearts of Oak on the other hand seem to have found their voices and increased in numbers after the match had ended.

Hitherto unknown faces, names, and personalities can suddenly be seen on various social media platforms as supporters of Accra Hearts of Oak. People have started asking if these excitements and reactions could be indications of the rebirth and maturity of football in Ghana? The days ahead could only come and count, but shortly.

Source: kessbenonline.com