Celebrating Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene on The Golden Stool (1999 - 2014)
The Chiefs and people of Asanteman are currently celebrating the 15th anniversary of the enstoolment of their illustrious King, His Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, as the 16th occupant of their Golden Stool (1999 – 2014).
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An extensive programme of cultural and traditional events, spanning four months, February to May 2014, have been drawn up, climaxed by the celebration of the great Akwasidaekesee festival, to be held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi on Sunday May11, 2014.
This will be the third Akwasidaekesee festival of Otumfuo’s reign. It is expected that it will be graced by the presence of royalty, foreign and local dignitaries. We also expect global media coverage of the major events.
On Tuesday May 6, 2014, the 64th birthday of Otumfuo, there will be a sod-cutting ceremony at the old Kumasi Brewery Limited site, Asokwa, Kumasi, to inaugurate Osei Tutu II University College, to serve as the physical and permanent embodiment of Otumfuo’s legacy on education.
The theme of the anniversary is, “Rekindling the Spirit of Creativity, Innovation and Enterprise through Traditional Leadership.”
THE ASANTE KINGDOM
In his authoritative biography entitled, “Otumfuo Osei Tutu II – The King on the Golden Stool”, first published in 2009 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Otumfuo’s reign, Mr Kojo Yankah, a former Ashanti Regional Minister, states that “... The Asante Kingdom, over which Otumfuo Osei Tutu II reigns, covers the entire Ashanti Region, parts of the Brong Ahafo Region and the Worawora District of the Volta Region of Ghana where the chiefs and people owe allegiance to the Golden Stool and pay homage to the Asantehene.
In 2008, the population of the Ashanti Region was approximately 4.7 million, covering an area of 25,000 square kilometres and representing about 11 per cent of the land area of Ghana. Ashanti is the most populous region in Ghana and contributes about 20 per cent of the national population.
Otumfuo Asantehene is the President of the Kumasi Traditional Council. He is also the President of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs as well as the President of the Asanteman Council. The Asanteman Council comprises approximately 70 Traditional Council areas of Ghana, 40 of which are in the Ashanti Region and the remaining 30 spread outside the Ashanti Region.”
It is this permanent, unparalleled and unequalled trinity of traditional authority and leadership that makes Otumfuo Asantehene unique in the context of the institution of Ghanaian chieftaincy.
In an insightful “Forward” to Mr Kojo Yankah’s book quoted above, Kantinka Dr Kwame Donkoh Fordwor, a former President of the African Development Bank, states that “... it was to the good fortune and eternal advantage of the Asante Kingdom and of Ghana as a whole, that the Almighty chose to select his servant Barima Kwaku Duah to take up the mantle of kingship at a most critical time in the life of Asante and of Ghana.
Since his selection to the high position of occupant of the Golden Stool, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has given a new and improved image to the office of Asantehene. In a real sense, he has established a concept of kingship that is more suited to the spirit of the new and changed conditions of today.
In doing this he has given the institution of Chieftaincy a new lease of life, by making it more relevant to the issues of the time and more responsive to the existing and emerging needs of the people.
In the process, he has become a pace-setter for Chieftaincy not only in Ghana but elsewhere in Africa.”
EARLY LIFE AS BARIMA KWAKU DUAH
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, was born on May 6, 1950. His name at birth was Barima Kwaku Duah, having been named after his paternal grandfather, Nana Kwaku Duah (Nana Agari); Brahyiahene, who hailed from Kantinkyiren in the Atwima district of the Ashanti Region. Otumfuo is the third son and the fifth child of his mother, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa, who was blessed by Almighty God with three sons and two daughters.
His two elder brothers, Barima Kwabena Poku and Barima Akwasi Agyeman and younger sister Nana Ama Serwaa passed away, leaving him with his surviving elder sister, Nana Ama Konadu.
Otumfuo’s father was Oheneba Boakye Dankwa, who succeeded his own father, Nana Kwaku Duah Agari as Brahyiahene, and who also hailed from the village of Kantinkyiren in the Atwima District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
In the “Kwadwom dirge” sang by minstrels behind Otumfuo, Kantinkyiren features prominently, as follows:
“Hwan na obenya s[ Kantinkyiren Boakye Dankwa ne Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem ba ne noo. Obi nya saa bia anka Obeyebi.”
To wit: “Who wouldn’t want the royal privilege of being born by Kantinkyiren Boakye Dankwa and Asantehemaa Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem?”
To the indigenes of Kantinkyiren, the significance of the above Kwadwom verse cannot be overemphasised. It simply bonds them to Asante royalty. Their son, after all, is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene.
The late Kantinkyiren Afia Abasa of Manhyia Tete Mwomkro fame composed many songs in praise of the bond between Kantinkyiren, Otumfuo and his mother, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehenemaa.
As early as age five, his uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, who had been enstooled as Hiahene in 1952, took him under his guardianship, to secure his proper upbringing and royal conduct.
Otumfuo’s primary education began in Kumasi, subsequently continued in 1964 in Sefwi Wiawso Secondary School in the Western Region, under the tutelage of the Omanhene of Sefwi Wiawso, the late Nana Kwadwo Aduhene II, a cousin of Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, Hiahene and an uncle of the famous Ahwoi brothers of contemporary Ghanaian political governance.
Secondary education was followed by accountancy studies in 1971 at the Institute of Professional Studies, (now University of Professional Studies, Legon, Accra). Opportunity knocked for Otumfuo to proceed to London to continue his tertiary education at the London Metropolitan University, where he graduated in Human Resources Management and Public Administration.
Rather than staying in academia to pursue postgraduate studies, Otumfuo jumped straight into the world of work, in Canada and England. In 1981, he worked as a senior consultant with the Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company in Toronto Canada. In 1985, he returned to London, England and took up an appointment as Personnel Administrator at the Manpower Services Commission attached to Brent Council in London.
His strong passion for real estate and financial services business persuaded him to abandon salaried employment. Consequently, he established his private company, Primoda Financial Services Limited, with plush offices at Kilburn High Road, North West London. Fortuitously, this was in the mid 1980’s, during the booming era of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s property owning Britain.
Mortgage finance was in abundance, and Otumfuo (then Barima Kwaku Duah) used his business acumen to forge useful contacts with bankers and mortgage financiers in the UK to propel his real estate business. In the process, he established an excellent reputation as a credible and creditworthy realtor in the UK.
This solid reputation helped him to obtain the requisite mortgage finance for many clients, especially first-time buyers to purchase their U.K. properties.
In 1989 his entrepreneurial inclinations urged him to return to Ghana. Once again, he established his own business, this time in the transport sector, under the name Transpomech International (Ghana) Limited.