Asante-Akyem Odumase – A Historical Perspective
This book can be described as a compendium that tries to explain, in a very simple language, why there is an area in the Asante Kingdom called Asante Akyem, even though there is another area, outside Asante, known as the Akyem State.
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There certainly is a relationship between Asante and Akyem and this is all that this book is about.
In his foreword to the book, the Omanhene of the Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, describes Asante Akyem as a misnomer and a puzzle which the book has succeeded in unravelling.
There is another puzzle which the book has solved. Which is why despite the long distance between Asante-Akyem Odumasi and Juaben, with so many towns and communities in-between, Asante-Akyem Odumasi is part of the Juaben State and why the Odumasehene is the Nifahene of the Juaben Traditional Area.
Another interesting narration by the author is the many towns and communities in Ghana that go by the name Odumase. Notable among them, he writes, are Krobo Odumase, Kwawu Odumase, Nkroanza Odumase, Wassa Odumase, Assin Odumase, Akyem Odumase (different from Asante Akyem Odumase), Sekyere Odumase (Seko), Juaso Odumase and Kumasi Odumase, an area in Asante New Town (Ash Town) popularly called K. O.
Today, Asante–Akyem Odumase, according to the author, often referred to as Konongo-Odumase, is one of the principal towns in the Juaben Traditional Area and one of Ashanti Region’s most ancient towns. The 2010 population census gives the town a population of 13,970, making it the third largest community in Asante-Akyem, after Agogo and Konongo.
The reader will find out that even though Odumase is far older than Konongo, with which it shares a common boundary, in fact making the two communities twin towns, Konongo has grown more rapidly because of the mineral exploration in the area.
The chiefs and elders of Odumase encouraged migrants who came to work in the mines to settle at Konongo, leading to its growth as a commercial centre.
According to the author, Odumase was founded by Nana Mumuanor Ampam of Asawuo Community where the nephew of Nana Anim Asawuo, Duodu Prah, was believed to have caused a traditional havoc, leading to the downfall of Asawuo as a commercial community. Its citizens migrated to many communities, including Kwaku Aduamuah, Fante Nsaba, Kyebi, Asuom and Begoro.
Nana Mumuanor Ampam, a younger brother of Nana Anim Asawuo, migrated from Asawuo to join his sister Akua Koah (wife of Juasohene Kwame Apenteng). Mumuanor initially settled at Anwanwereso, near Juaso, but later moved to present-day Odumase, a community he founded under a big Odum tree.
Being an educationist and a church elder, the author writes at length about education and church activities in the area.
He gives a good account of Konongo-Odumase Secondary, which he describes as one of the leading secondary schools in Ghana and mentions some of the great products of the school: educationists, lawyers, journalists, politicians, businessmen, sportsmen, security personnel and traditional rulers.
The author, Nana Kofi Antwi II, is the present Odumasehene and is a product of the University of Cape Coast, from where he earned bachelor and master’s degrees. He once taught at Wiawso Anglican College of Education and Wesley College of Education in Kumasi.
He is currently an officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, a counsellor, an adjunct facilitator at the School of Theology and Mission (CUC) and an elder of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church.
