Honour Him Now: Mahama’s Call to Celebrate Agya Koo Nimo.

Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts to organise a national celebration to honour Ghana’s living highlife music legend, Agya Koo Nimo.

The call was made during the launch of the Black Star Experience on May 1, 2025, at the Black Star Square in Accra. After enjoying a performance by the Legon Palmwine Band President Mahama reflected on the rich legacy of palmwine music and the profound impact of Agya Koo Nimo on Ghana’s cultural heritage.

We watched the palmwine music and I asked if the King of Palmwine music was still alive – Agya Koo Nimo and I hear he is alive. This is a man we must honour before he passes, President Mahama said. Let’s not wait until people die before we cry and celebrate them. Dzifa, you and your team should organise a ceremony to honour him.

The heartfelt plea was directed at Hon. Ablah Dzifa Gomashie, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts urging her to take swift action in recognising the immense contributions of Agya Koo Nimo while he is still alive.

Agya Koo Nimo, born Kwabena Boa-Amponsem on October 3, 1934, is revered as a pioneer of Ghana’s traditional palmwine and highlife music. Though his official name is Dr. Daniel Amponsah, the stage name Koo Nimo has become synonymous with the soul of Ghanaian folk music. He was inspired from a young age by his musical family—his father was a trumpeter and his mother a singer.

Despite working initially as a technician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Koo Nimo never abandoned his love for music. His professional music journey took off in the 1950s during which he developed a distinctive style that blended storytelling, guitar, spoken word poetry and indigenous rhythms.

He later formed the Addadam Agofomma ensemble a traditional musical group preserving palmwine music’s authenticity through instruments like the apentemma, dondo, frikyiwa, prempensua, and ntɔwa.

Agya Koo Nimo has received numerous accolades throughout his career. These include:
• Order of the Volta (2007) by President John Agyekum Kufuor
• Asanteman Award from the Asantehene
• VGMA Lifetime Achievement Award
• Konkoma and Entertainment Achievement Awards

Internationally, he has served as President of the Musicians’ Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), interim chair of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA), and was a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Washington and the University of Michigan. He is an honorary life member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.

His eight-track album Osabarima was the first Ghanaian work to be released on CD in 1990. His music reflects deep social consciousness, often touching on themes such as migration, poverty, love and mortality, with notable compositions like Mewu Na Agoro Agu, Ɔdɔ Nson and Abrokyire Abrabo.

President Mahama’s call has reignited conversations around honouring cultural legends while they are still alive. Many Ghanaians agree that Agya Koo Nimo represents more than just music he is a vessel of tradition, history, and indigenous knowledge.

Social media and public forums have since seen a surge in support for the proposed national ceremony, with many calling for it to be grand, befitting the legacy of the man who has carried Ghanaian music across generations and continents.

If honoured, Agya Koo Nimo would join a very small group of Ghanaian cultural icons who have received nationwide recognition in their lifetime an act many believe should become the norm, not the exception.

Agya Koo Nimo remains an enduring symbol of Ghanaian tradition and artistic excellence. As President Mahama rightly put it, “Let’s honour him again before God calls him.” Ghana has the opportunity not only to show gratitude but to inspire younger generations to value and preserve their cultural roots.

As plans begin to take shape, the nation watches in anticipation—ready to celebrate a legend while he still strums the strings of his guitar and the chords of our hearts.