The wife of the late vice president, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has revealed that she defied the widowhood rite of wearing black attire for a year which in Ghana signifies the grieving of one’s departed spouse.

Maltida Amissah-Arthur believed that time had changed and for that matter, widows must not be forced to wear black for a year since men were not obligated to do the same.

In an interview with David Ampofo on “Time with Dav”, Mrs. Ammisah-Arthur disclosed that she wore the black attire for three months after her husband passed.

“I wore the black attire for three months, in my book I made a point that people should be left to do things as they want to. Wearing black doesn’t equate how sad you are or how you are grieving,” she stated.

She further explained that “my daughter was very pregnant and near term. I wasn’t going to wear black when my daughter had delivered. My husband died in June, was buried in July, my daughter gave birth in August and I stopped wearing black in September”.

The wife of the late vice president also admitted she still mourns the loss of her husband regardless of the dress she wears adding “grieving is an inward thing, it is an emotion that you feel. Perhaps the person who is wearing white is emotionally drained than the one wearing black”

Another widowhood rite she also saw to be outmoded is that of a widow bathing before 6:00 pm.

“We are told that a widow should have their bath before 6 pm at night. The fear was that at night you would hurt yourself when you are going to have your bath or some insect or snake can bite you. Now we all live in homes where we have bathrooms inside the houses so really this does not hold,” she explained.