There’s a reason why all leaders of Asante swore to never cross River Pra into Akyem territory—after all its founder, Osei Tutu, was shot in his canoe by a small battalion of Akyem soldiers while crossing River Pra. Foremost, the ritual of “Non-Crossing” was to honor the memory of the founder of Asante. Better, the beatification of Non-Crossing was to remind all leaders of their certain vulnerability in treading unprepared on unfamiliar territory.
There’s more… Not only was Osei Tutu I shot on the River while he rode in his own boat (built by some of Asante’s renowned boat builders), he was actually beheaded there. Our oral history has it that he was led into an Akyem ambush. (Osei Tutu’s linguists never wrote down a single thing hence the details of that bloody encounter remain forever lost). So much beheading took place on that boat on that river that day that only a couple of Asante royal guards were spared (out of the King’s whole entourage) to return to Kumasi with the news.
Whether one believes it or not, the messengers reported back to Asante’s elders that Osei Tutu was so horrified by the cunning (either of the Akyem or of other Asantes who betrayed him to the Akyem) that before he was beheaded, he cried: “Ankah me nim a…” (Had I known is always at last.)
Of course.
Osei Tutu having regretted not heeding the call of his Chief Priest, Okomfo Anokye, to remain in Kumasi or to fully arm himself at all times (to be prepared for the worst) with the full force of Asante’s Army while deployed in unfamiliar territory.
The message of Osei Tutu nonetheless, rings true even in modern Ghanaian politics: The first president of the republic of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown (through the cunning of a terrorist foreign security agency) when he left behind his seat unprotected while traveling in another man’s territory (Vietnam). Nkrumah is also reported to have repeated Osei Tutu’s advice while domiciled in Guinea: “Ankah me nim a…”
Of course.
Although Nkrumah was spared a physical musket shot, plus an actual beheading, he still suffered from the mental and emotional shot of his overthrow until his real death in a foreign land. Such is the end of leaders who leave their seats unprepared: they die in foreign lands.
Osei Tutu’s advice then can be re-examined in light of a recent decision by the sitting Asantehene to break with the tradition of Non-Crossing.
There’s a reason why customs emerge. There’s also a reason why customs and rituals like Asantehene’s Non-Crossing, are broken. More precisely, there’s also a reason why a leader of one nation might travel to another man’s territory, and tread on unfamiliar territory.
What’s the reason? And how might the leader prepare for it?
On Thursday August 24, 2018, the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, broke with the spirit of custom. He broke with the essence of tradition. He broke with paying homage to the founder of Asante. He broke with his swearing in to all of Asante. He did not cross River Pra in a boat (built by his best craftsmen) per se. He crossed the River Pra in a V8 Toyota Land Cruiser, over a road-bridge, with a certain entourage, some of whom rode along in Mercedes-Benzs, V8 Toyota Tundras, Toyota Land Cruisers, and Roll Royces.
Some Ghanaians, including some Asantes, were impressed with the dazzling mechanical beautification of the Crossing. If one must break with a manual-canoe beatification, the current Asantehene accomplished it with a mechanical-Benz beautification.
But alas! None of these Asantehene modern “boats” of crossing into Akyem was the handiwork of an Asante builder, however. In fact, none of Asantehene’s entourage included any remnant of a battalion of Asante’s famed Asafo (Armed Forces) who once terrified the British and scared away Britain’s mercenary African armies. This is three hundred years since the founder was killed on River Pra. This is after trillions of gold, diamonds, bauxite and cocoa have also been sold to colonialists. Yet, not a single modern “boat” of Asantehene’s breaking with tradition was actually forged in a Kumasi “boat-making” house.
In fact, the Ghanaian tax payer had to foot the bills of the services of a colonial establishment, police officers to be exact, to escort this “modern day Asantehene” into Akyem. The Oyoko clan’s Asafo is no longer anywhere found. The last known Asafo who fought alongside the Queenmother of Ejisu, Nana Yaa Asantewaa, against a terrorist colonial army, probably died in 1954.
Speak of breaking with tradition in essence alone. Speak of the total disregard for ritual. Speak of treading in unfamiliar territories unprepared. And when the Asantehene presents himself to the national audience, standing together with the Okyehene Amoatia Ofori Panin, he dons what can only be construed as a colonial imposition on the consciousness of the mis-educated, a black three-piece tuxedo and a bow-tie. In Ghana.
Of course, the Asantehene’s very missionary mis-education, and, or, his continued breaking with tradition, demands it.
Taken together—the idea of an Asantehene riding along in a Japanese or German-man-made overland “boat,” wearing a colonial terrorist’s dress—crossing into Akyem Abuakwah, if even to make peace with his ancestors, does not evoke warm feelings of a moving forward, but of a numbness rooted in total regression: An act of erasing what it actually meant, just three hundred years ago, to be Asantehene: proud, ingenious, innovative and brave, even in the face of colonial terrorism.
As if this deep-seated double-consciousness could be spared for a moment one may ask: What’s the reason for the crossing?
The Asantehene broke with his traditional institution (Asante’s famed Chief Priest’s advice once again), not for some laudable reason of erecting an Asante Technical Institute (to perfect the building of boats), but to be the guest of honor at a durbar hosted by the Okyehene, Amoatia Ofori Panin (a man who calls himself Osagyefo, or savior), to climax the 75th Anniversary of the late King of Akyem Abuakwa, Nana Sir Ofori Atta.
And there you have it: What examples! The custodians of our traditions, the enforcers of our pride and the representatives of our bravery now accepting the lowly positions of “Sir” bestowed by foreign Kings and Queens of colonial terrorism. The more-educated-than-his-ancestors, the Metha, now serving as Kings in Ghana are incapable of understanding that the title “Sir” actually means that you are now subject to a colonial terrorist who brags at her diner table of tormenting your own people. Speak of treading in unfamiliar territory unprepared.
Traditional Kings no longer understand what it takes for the building of institutions and the making of image toward the building of strong nations. “Sir,” and the subsequent honoring of “Sir,” even after some 75 years, is their new aspiration. Durbars, for partying sake, have become the new reasons for breaking with tradition. Speak of treading in unfamiliar territory unprepared?
And there you have it, the impact of our debilitating colonization lies complete in the beautification of an Asantehene’s river crossing with a land cruiser, wearing a terrorist British tuxedo.
Although one would be remiss not to mention that the handsome well-mis-educated Asantehene couldn’t possibly bring himself to crossing the River Pra in actual fact. It is not because he cannot swim, or the fact that he is incapable of paddling a canoe or rowing a boat himself. The serene waters of the River Pra—which his ancestor crossed and died crossing, his blood dripping to the fishes below, and his last words echoing the phrase, “Had I known—” has turned even bloodier. The new terrorists in town, the Chinese, have done so much “killing” of the land and so much “beheading” of the future generations of this land through Galamsey (the Chinese call it mining), so much so that River Pra is more like a gutter than an actual River.
So never mind that to break with tradition, the Asantehene opts rather to ride along in foreign-built “boats,” safe from the splash of dirty Pra-waters; away from the cancerous fishes; out of sight, and out of mind.
The beautification of a Crossing may appeal to many, but the seeds of Asante’s own destruction have been planted through the love for treading in unfamiliar territory (breaking with tradition) rather unprepared, at home and abroad. Shall we uproot the germinated weeds or watch them grow like a cancer? Or shall we one day, like the founder of Asante, also cry out, “Had We known!” Or yet, shall we heed his cautious wisdom and charge like a mighty nation, forward, and fully-armed with our “magical amulets” and body armor?
The Asantehene didn’t travel to Kyebi wearing a tuxedo. The photos of himself and the Okyehene in tuxedo were taken at Manhyia earlier in the year at a dinner after the Asantehene Invitational Golf Tournament. I know the very idea of it, a golf tournament, will even further strengthen your point of the so called Metha parting away with tradition and embracing the culture if his oppressor but whether they played ampe or ɔware is besides the point.
That being said, maybe if we stuck so much to tradition and forbade ourselves from adopting and utilizing any invention or medium of our oppressors, this message you’re sharing on Facebook today should have been better sent across through oral recitation at night while beating the “dawuro” aka gong gong to the residents of Ntoaboma in the hopes that in two weeks time, traders traveling to the Kwaman forest (Asanteman today) by foot will carry the messages along.
You are not without a sense of humor my friend. Your point is well-taken.
Saa Ofori-Agyekum Samuel. Is the result of this “adopting and utilizing any invention or medium of our oppressors” also include the state of the River Pra? A gutter!
Oh yeah? It is actually a pity how we have retrogressed though and that is a very fair point you make. From producing our own weapons, boats, clothing and virtually everything we needed 300 years ago to a consumer population today is sad to be honest. But as sad as it is, the world has moved on and we should too.
Well, you are not wrong Ofori-Agyekum Samuel. I am only highlighting the sad parts. Should we not highlight how sad it is that we might actually begin to move on as well?
Dade Afre Akufu Not at all. As for Galamsey and it’s destructive effects, we’re all behind the government in their campaign and clampdown of the act. Our own people are complicit and that’s what makes the fight a difficult one.
But Sammy, are you acquitting our leadership in what has become of Galamsey in River Pra?
Dade Afre Akufu certainly not. Elected officials and traditional leadership are all to blame for where we’re now. In the same vein it takes leadership to take a bold stance against this pervasive act with very influential and powerful figures neck deep into it who most politicians would rather not offend. That is where i feel the government needs our support.
Interesting take. Except you really don’t know how he was actually dressed when he crossed the river.?. Also Ashantehene mentioned that he was wearing the same Kente that his ancestors wore when they crossed I think.
Your point is well-taken.
Narmer Amenuti haha but I do get your point. Both more interested in the show of opulence than the real meaning of tradition
Exactly, the opulence is not anywhere showered on the common man.
Narmer Amenuti I was glued to my TV waiting to hear both vow to provide funds to lift their people out of poverty, or build schools and libraries for their local people. Driving through areas of abject poverty in a Bentley seems ridiculous though. I do like them both and I was hoping for a truly historic message.
Ridiculous. You are correct, these leaders and their aspirations. It is mind-boggling.
Point of correction, My brother: Osei Tutu was not BEAHEADED on the Pra. Oral accounts indicate that he drowned in the river. Asante invaded and subdued Akyem after the coronation of Opoku Ware I , and would have done everything to recover the skull of Osei Tutu from the Akyems if indeed they had it as the embellished history goes. The accuracy of his assassination on River Pra itself is doubtful and has been noted by some historians. If you understand the religious beliefs of Asantes and probably Akans in general, you would know why Asantes would settle for the accounts on his alleged assassination instead of what is presumed to be the actual cause and date of his death. In any case, Asante never shied from the use of Western technology at any point in its history- pre- or post-colonial. The Empire itself was built on the back of European guns. Asante Kings like Opoku Ware I and Osei Tutu Kwame (he that built the stone palace the British destroyed in 1874) and Agyemang Prempeh I all made serious efforts to acquire and use European technology to enhance the glory of the Kingdom. in fact, it was attempts by the last of the pre-colonial Kings( Kwaku Dua III) to tap into French technology towards the construction of railway tracks, wine distillery and canals in Asante that among others, provoked the invasion and ultimate annexation of Asante. Asante has therefore never closed itself to the use of Western technology. Under today’s circumstances, Asante could not develop and maintain any industry independent of the Ghanaian state. Any misgivings we might have about the decline in the spirit of self-empowerment among our peoples should thus be directed at those in charge of the colonial state. Asante has maintained its indigenous vitality as best it could under the constraints of our colonial and post-colonial state. It deserves to be lauded. Cheers
Are you re-writing history?
which part appears re-written , please?
Kwame Kyei-baffour your points in history are well-taken. If you can pardon some of what you claim are my mistakes, this view is a case in point: Our oral history changes fast and furious from one mouth to the next. And for me, my biggest problem as I seek facts to express my opinions on modern happenings is the issue of oral culture. Your contribution is welcome. I accept.
That said, I agree that most of the problems of the modern state stem from “our colonial and post-colonial state.” But I am of the opinion that an Asantehene can try harder. It is not enough to say it is out of the hands of a powerful leader as the Asantehene or the Akyehene when galamseyers run riot in polluting the very waters they drink and fish from. The Asantehene wields tremendous power even in a colonial state.
You are dumb and ignorant. U are not intelligent than anyone so stop your nkwaseasem nu. Do u think you are the only one who knows the history of asante and Akyems? So osei tutu travelled from kumasi to swim in river Pra and got drowned? Okuraseni. They fought the Akyems after they defected from Adansi in ashanti region. In the cause of the war ,the Akyems army killed their leader osei tutu and beheaded him. Stop your nonsense
Builders and choppers – a real – life parable…
Who beheaded who? ?????????????????????????
Please your history is kinda revisionist.
Dear Andy Abrokwah, my history is not revisionist. If in “revisionist” you think I am making another claim to an effect of history while fully aware of an “original account.” First, it is not my history, second, Worfa himself asserts that it is probably as “embellished history goes.” I am not Asante (only one of my great grandfathers is Asante) nor am I Akyem. So I take every point of correction. I am not attempting to embellish history.
Whether the founder was beheaded on the Pra or not, I have said there are several accounts to the effect, as a result of the inefficacy of an oral culture handing down official reports. This is not a problem with Asante history alone. This is a national, even almost a continental problem: oral history.
My point remains however: The Asantehene can do more than watch people turn his drinking water and the source of his meals to mud. Can he not?
When we part from tradition it has to make us better and allow for the adaptation of our better.
what is much poignant in your writings and the comments you allow for me is this:
the two “kings” in Ghana, Asantehene and Okyehene have parted with the tradition of HOW POWERFUL they are and how much responsibilities they have to protect their subjects (the land more so than the people).
Thanks for reading and sharing Kwame! I am happy you grasp, above all the details, the essential point.
What is most fascinating in some of these comments is that Narmer’s points are often read from right to left (instead of from left to right). The author makes a strong case for a powerful Asantehene (and invariably of a powerful Okyehene as well). The author makes the case that the Asante, and the Akyem, indeed have remarkable history.
What the author critiques is the fact that today’s Kings (including the Asantehene and Okyehene) in Ghana are not living up to the past glories of their outfits. In fact, they have become colonized, when they should rather be doing everything to fight colonization, neocolonization, imperialism, neoimperialism, etc. in the land. The ideas of tuxedos, Land Cruisers, the title “Sir,” galamasey and missionary education are apt allusions to how our Kings continue to break with tradition, not for reasons to advance their own people’s interests, but for their own parochial colonized-minded desires. As symbolic as Kings are in traditional Ghana, the author paints the appearances of these coconut-headed Kings in British tuxedos playing “golf,” right when the same River Pra, from which they drink and eat is polluted.
What is most fascinating that we must indulge rather in correcting opinion-history (which is what oral culture actually is). In the absence of official documentation by and for the people of Asante, at the time of events, it’s only apt that the author here concentrates rather on the lessons of the past than on oral details. What historian has gotten everything right?
The point of this essay is to wake up the dulled minds of our Kings, so they can see through their own colonization. This essay is about looking in the mirror and less about whether Osei Tutu was shot, assassinated or beheaded like this or like that. After all the Asantehene is Catholic, yet he rides in a “boat” man-made by Japanese who worship their ancestors. The irony of it all!
I cannot say enough that I appreciate your careful reading. Thanks for sharing your mind with us all.
like to paraphrase my friend (Mawuna Remarque Koutonin):
The problem you have delineated is not even that you charge colonialism, or imperialism or even racism.
The problem is that these Kings (by virtue of what you describe as their own colonization of mind) make the African societies they govern, or purport to govern, too weak. These colonized traditional rulers make us such easy prey by virtue of their own succumbing to being titled “Sir” by some British witch.
Even a non-racist people won’t resist the temptation to take advantage of us. It’s so easy to abuse Africans around the world. We are so gullible, so naive to the bones, so defenseless, so Ignorant.
Neocolonialism, neo-imperialism and even Racism is possible because Africans have become too weak. Part of that issue is because, as you claim, these Kings have become too weak!
Part of the solution to our colonization, even racism, might well come from the black family conversation behind the doors. This essay is an important step.
Our parents need to be told the truth: That they grow lambs and trow them in a world of wolves. What do they expect? The wolves to become vegetarians and Mandelas?
The goat does not hunt but if you put your fingers in its mouth, it will chew it.
The Oracle of Tado.
It seems the greatest validation our leaders seek is that which comes from our colonial masters in various forms and titles!
Cry our beloved country.
Cry Our Beloved Country indeed!
@Narmer – whether Samuel has a sense of humour or not is besides the point. You made a factual error and Samuel has tried to correct you and perhaps make a correction in the post itself, but you have shifted the goal post.
The vigour with which you proceeded to develop analysis around such factual error in the article is baffling. In my view, grand mother Africa should be educating and informing rather than mis-educating and misinforming.
And by the way, Africa is full of sad stories and narratives already, why do you want to settle on the sad aspects when clearly there is a change to link culture to development and by so doing empower others?
@Yaw. Sammy wrote the following:
“The photos of himself and the Okyehene in tuxedo were taken at Manhyia earlier in the year at a dinner after the Asantehene Invitational Golf Tournament. I know the very idea of it, a golf tournament, will even further strengthen your point of the so called Metha parting away with tradition and embracing the culture if his oppressor but whether they played ampe or ɔware is besides the point.”
There are two issues: (1) Sammy claimed the tuxedos were worn “earlier in the year” [Tuesday] and not later [Friday]. It is a fair point of correction. By conceding I make the point. I will not change the essay however to reflect the point of correction on a later date. This is about integrity. I wrote what I wrote, and I intend to admit my mistakes else how would you have noticed my mistake if not that I kept my copy and published Sammy’s correction?
Nonetheless, my point is, whether the tuxedos were worn on Tuesday and not Friday, does not curtail the point I made: That these traditional leaders (this is just what they are) shouldn’t be wearing tuxedos at all. A tuxedo (or being called “Sir” for that matter by a terrorists witch) is not a sign/symbol of tradition, nor can the argument be made that it is a sign/symbol of development, which there seems to be none going on in either Kwaman or Okyeman (with their continual nonchalance about the Pra as their drinking waters and sources of food continue to be polluted by the Chinese)!
(2) Sammy seems to think I care about the game (golf) that these two Kings played while on vacation. I admit that I would rather they played ampe or ɔware. But this is “besides the point” as Sammy admits himself. Another way to say it is that my essay is not necessarily about playing ampe or golf. It is about crossing river Pra and breaking with tradition. How and when we break with tradition, I find, are vital. By wearing tuxedos, the Kings are also not aware that they break with tradition. By playing golf, they are also not aware that they break with tradition. By allowing the Pra to be terrorized by Chinese people, these Kings also break with tradition. Yet they are not aware!
Hence the point of the essay: It seems that these Kings only indulge themselves in breaking with tradition (no matter the day of the year or the time of day) as they please, without factoring in the well-being of the people they have sworn to protect. Else how are they able to break with tradition by wearing tuxedos, playing golf while they watch the Pra (their own drinking water and their source of food) being destroyed by the new terrorists, the Chinese?
These Kings, I claim, are unconscious of their own actions, they have become comatose, brain-dead. They are incapable of sporting a British pirate from 2 meters away when just one hundred years ago, the lovely Nana Yaa Asantewaa (May She Rest In Perfect Peace) led men against British terrorists! To lead one must be able to display a heightened sense of discernment. These Kings, the current Asantehene and the Okyehene, have none! That is my point.
My last point now addresses your charge of me or Grandmother Africa concentrating on sad stories. Well, that is your opinion. It is very welcome. But I disagree. The past still lives with us, and it informs the future. I am not afraid of our miserable past. I am also happy to highlight our past glories and our honorable men and women who actually once led us: Yaa Asantewaa, Okomfo Anokye, Osei Tutu I, Kwame Nkrumah. Etc.
@Yaw.
Yaw , I think, you missed the point not because you wanted to, but the convening idea of a “comatose” pair of Kings in modern Ghana rather irks you. Otherwise the theme of the essay (even with the tuxedo-day correction) does not miss a beat in its analysis. In other words, we have “braindead” leaders, yet we act that because they are our traditional Kings, they should not be critiqued. But nothing these Kings do (especially with their newfound love of breaking with tradition) points to the fact that they respect the stools on which they sit. These two Kings, this pair of comatose Kings, are the very antithesis of traditional leaders. Therefore they should be called out and treated as such.
Peace!
Hey Narmer, what if people wrote articles asking for you to stay away from the English language? Are you incapable of respect?
First, my dear Opoku, my essay was written in Kpelle, which I doubt you can either read, let alone write. This is a translation for you. And that’s besides the point, however. Although I hope this English version is comprehensible to you. It seems that it is. Else, you can ask me nicely for the Kpelle original version, and I will be happy to provide you with a copy at no charge. (That is if you have an actual address).
One more point: You are correct, I am incapable of respect for the more-educated-than-his-ancestors, the Metha. Why? The metha are not directly exposed to the consequences of their acquired paganism. I detest people who have no skin in the game! The Asantehene and the Okyehene strike me as two methas who have not become aware that they have acquired paganism from distant lands.
Above all, me dear Opoku, I appreciate your reading the article. It has struck a nerve, I guess… that’s if I may say so.
Mr. Opoku, take a cursory look at the top of the page. You are also able to read the article in the following languages (with a single click):
Spanish
French
Yoruba
Sesotho
Arabic
Zulu
Hausa
Igbo
Portuguese
Your choice. I doubt you really need a version in the original Kpelle, if you know what I mean.
Nice to see you’ve moved on from bashing capitalism, wonder what’s next on your hit list…
How does Lokotey type on a keyboard? Glorified sarcasm, at a comprehensive school level. My 10 year old nephew is more constructive about an essay than this.
Dade, the search for intellectual interlocutors in the Land is a long and lonely one.
@Narmer – the challenge here is that you proceed from a false premise as the caption of the cover picture below;
“Two of Ghana’s traditional Kings appear at a durbar in memory of another traditional King, who passed away some 75 years ago”
While not admitting to the fact that this picture was taken at a dinner in Kumasi after Okyenhene’s visit in June 2018 (see: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/otumfuo-okyenhene-in-historic-meeting.html ). In my view, the right thing to do if you want to critique the wearing of tuxedos for which you are entitled to, is to draw the right linkages. The caption sets the wrong premise. You can maintain the picture but weave in linkages that address your point)
You do not do this, but proceed to engage me on Sammy’s two issues which are also flawed. Here, you state the below;
“(1) Sammy claimed the tuxedos were worn “earlier in the year” [Tuesday] and not later [Friday]. It is a fair point of correction. By conceding I make the point. I will not change the essay however to reflect the point of correction on a later date. This is about integrity. I wrote what I wrote, and I intend to admit my mistakes else how would you have noticed my mistake if not that I kept my copy and published Sammy’s correction?
(2) Sammy seems to think I care about the game (golf) that these two Kings played while on vacation. I admit that I would rather they played ampe or ɔware. But this is “besides the point” as Sammy admits himself. Another way to say it is that my essay is not necessarily about playing ampe or golf. It is about crossing river Pra and breaking with tradition. How and when we break with tradition, I find, are vital. By wearing tuxedos, the Kings are also not aware that they break with tradition. By playing golf, they are also not aware that they break with tradition. By allowing the Pra to be terrorized by Chinese people, these Kings also break with tradition. Yet they are not aware! “
Firstly – the tuxedos were worn in June 2018 at a dinner in Kumasi after the Head of State Gold Tournament for which the Asantehene and Okyenhene took part at the Royal Golf Course in Kumasi. The durbar in Kyebi took place on Thursday, 24th August, 2018, hence maintaining the capture alone is problematic as some people just read captions and not the full story. I don’t expect that you change the article but I expect of you to report fact and not conjecture.
Secondly, the two Kings were not on vacation, but rather taking part in the Head of State Annual Gold competition that took place in Kumasi as the two are golf enthusiast as a form of exercise. Just so you know, men don’t play ampe and ɔware is a game of strategy and not one of physical activity (see: https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/August-23rd/historian-traces-source-of-ashanti-akyem-rivalry-lauds-otumfuo-visit-to-okyeman.php) and story on visit to Kumasi (see: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/otumfuo-okyenhene-in-historic-meeting.html )
In same response, you highlight that the Asantehene has broken tradition by crossing the river Pra which is vital, you then weave in the erroneous impression that the Asantehene and Okyenhene have just sat down for major rivers within their jurisdiction to be polluted (here you reference the Pra). It should be known that after independence we opted for a constitutional democracy and vested all resources in government including customary and private lands should minerals be found in them. By law, permits for mining are given by government to exploit most times at the detriment of local people. Chiefs and people continuously bemoaned the situation as it undermines their authority with little done. It must be further noted, that when a more direct approach was taken by government to deal with the situation and engaged with Nananom, the situation has been brought under control with a plan for restoration and responsible exploitation. Previously, it was difficult for this to happen without direct and focussed government action The new dispensation puts Chiefs and Kings in Ghana in a difficult situation prompting the Asantehene to advocate for tweaks in the continuation to ensure that attributes of our culture especially around government should be inculcated to ensure that Nananom play vital roles in the modern Ghanaian state. However, I wouldn’t fault anyone who says that such influential people and our government and private leaders need to do more. To say they just sat down and allowed in your own words allowed Chinese “terrorists” to pollute the Pra is neither here nor there.
Lastly – you have very strong words to describe Asantehene and Okyenhene who I know are doing a lot, and I am sure that you can easily find out and share accordingly. But below are just two of the recent partnerships Asantehene is pursuing for Asanteman and Ghana:
1. A massive programme of works will connect the major Ghanaian towns and cities with land and sea trading ports, enabling Ghana to connect both internally and externally, quickly and efficiently. The centre-piece of the programme will feature a new international airport in Kumasi, southern Ghana, catering for passenger operations, cargo activity, aircraft maintenance and a state of the art aviation skills academy.
The memorandum of understanding was made possible thanks to the King’s Investment Trust, AIT, Mace, an international construction and consultancy firm, the University of East London, His Majesty, King Osei Tutu Institute of Applied Sciences, Kumasi, and Youth Charter which is an accredited United Nations organisation. Read more here: https://manhyiapalace.org/2018/09/03/otumfuo-receives-honorary-doctorate-of-education/
2. He said: “We need commitment from the government to buy our products as it’s happening in Uganda.” Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who promised to follow up on the challenges the company faced in Ghana when he returned home, then assured the company that he would provide land for the factory in Kumasi. Read more here: https://manhyiapalace.org/2018/08/03/otumfuo-to-assist-cancer-drug-producer-set-up-in-kumasi/
I must put out there that, I am not against anyone criticising – but they must be constructive and factual. In this case, I do not thing you have been constructive and factual enough.
@Owusu Premph and @Kyere Boasiako Antwi– there are a lot of factual inaccuracies and innuendos in both of your post. It is easy to just write about supposed comatose and coconut leaders as you claim and want others to believe, but you must know that facts are sacred. Above, I have corrected some of the inaccuracies so has Samuel and Kwame earlier on. Do know, that it does not irk me as you claim (@Boasiako Antwi) – because if you study the history of Asante, leaders are not immune from criticism — but must be grounded on facts.
As read in the article and your views, your only means for calling them comatose is the fact that they sat down for river Pra to be polluted and dressed in Tuxedos to a durbar which are false. So your issue is not about how I feel, but with facts because history educates, and in the case of Asante, there are countless write ups as there are of oral history, so it sometimes not difficult to cross check.
Medaase. #AmansiePramre
@Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, I appreciate your keen eye for detail. Next time I will publish that the tuxedos were worn on a Tuesday and not on Friday while I proceed to make the point that tuxedos have no place in the dressing rooms of traditional kings.
As for your ensuing points, it is a curious adventure for me, as you (and most others) seem to believe that there’s such a thing as “responsible exploitation.” It’s like the phrase “sustainable industrialization.” Do you not find the term an oxymoron? Think a bit: what kind of thing continues to be “exploited” and survives? Are we being “responsible” by allowing things to be “exploited” or killed? We differ.
Which leads me both to address your point of misleading the humble reader about the two lazy kings. The case you seem to be making, albeit haphazardly, is that these kings were actually awakened by the colonial government of Ghana, from Accra, before they could wrap an arm around the problem of Chinese terrorists polluting the river pra. Is it not rather revealing that the kings lazied around, like playing golf and attending durbars, and breaking with all manner of traditions, but couldn’t be called upon to be proactive about the pollution in their own drinking water until they were contacted by the colonial government from Accra? Do you not find that picture disturbing?
Which leads me to your last point on the contributions of the Asantehene towards development. All of your examples prove my earlier charge of the office of the Asantehene: If he can start all these “massive programme of works” as you claim, he must be powerful. Yet how he sits around while the waters in Asanteman are polluted by galamseyers (until a colonial government contacts him from Accra) strikes me as a patent contradiction in terms. Either these “massive programme of works” are real or they are fronts. Either the Asantehene has power or he does not! What I concede, however, is that the Asantehene is powerful, which again goes to prove my point: These kings are powerful yet they lazy around breaking with what easy tradition they can find. It is easier to play golf than ampe.
Golf is exercising? Who are you kidding, my friend? Have you tried ampe? Further, are the golf balls and the golf sticks made in Asanteman or imported from England?
Like I said, I would rather the two kings got together and played ampe. (And please, ampe is not just for girls). Even if ampe was just for girls, I would rather the two kings got together and played ampe! Ampe is more work than golf. Ampe is more civilized than golf. Ampe is more sustainable than golf. Ampe is actual development, golf is not, or as you claim golf is a type of “responsible exploitation.” Put another way, the idea of golf is an oxymoron constructed to obscure the violence of exploitation. So yes by rather playing ampe, Asanteman and Ghana in general, would have lost no resources to imported golf sticks, imported golf balls, (none of which we need) and we would have preserved a whole forest, which has been converted to grass that our fine goats cannot even graze. And the wasted waters poured on empty grass every morning in the name of golf while people in Asanteman cannot even get clean drinking water is a shame! God forgive these kings! In the days of Nana Yaa Asantewaa they would have been destooled already. I believe.
Haha!
Narmer go kill person oo!
Ampe paa!?
#Anokwa
@Narmer – now you have entered into the realm of intellectual dishonesty and pettiness.
I will end it here.
Oh stop your nonsense! Look, it’s fine to remain a Chieftancy fanatic. But its ridiculous to think you are making a new contribution. When you lose an argument you sit there and indulge in ad hominems of pettiness? Isn’t that typical? After what has continued as an interesting dialogue, I am am not surprised that you finally reject once again reason & critique, and opt for your oral culture nonsense. You love the Asantehene and Okyenhene, and you believe that they are beyond reproach. That is your problem, but spare as your lesson in Blind Respect.
@Yaw
Can we cut out the sensationalism nonsense and concentrate on the argument Narmer has raised? Which is that these kings break with tradition by having tuxedos in their closets and driving out in land cruisers while their people are being impoverished by terrorists like the Chinese and the British.
….opinions of just a Ghanaian who hopes for the best.
@Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
You are losing the battle in reading comprehension. Wai!