The Asante Empire

The story of Queen Abla Pokou goes hand in hand with the creation of the Baoulé tribe of Côte d’Ivoire and is a reminder of the importance of the mother figure in this region and the entire Akan culture.  Exactly Three Hundred Years ago, 1720; a sad event occurred in Kumase that tested Asanteman unity. Asanteman passed the test.  Queen Abla Pokou was born a princess in the Ashanti kingdom of Ghana. She was the niece of the Great King Osei Tutu, founder of the Asante Empire. In the Ashanti culture, succession is matrilineal. So when King Osei Tutu died, it was Nana Dako, the brother of Queen Abena Pokua who took power. Mpanimfuo se “Akonwa tɔ fie a obiara pre bi”. After Opoku Ware was nominated as the successor to Asanteman Founder Osɛi Tutu Opemsoɔ who died in 1717, the Oyoko ADAKƆ Abusua (Matriclan-Family) of Nsuta opposed the decision taken by the Oyoko Abusua of Kumase. The Nsuta Oyoko Adakɔ was led by Ohemaa Abena Pokuaa. She wanted an Oyoko Adakɔ royal to succeed Osei Tut...

Was ASANTE Slave traders? Well, I'm aware of the propaganda, but that of the British (European) didn't specify Asante, they presented it as "your own people sold you to us, so don't blame us". And considering the fact that, slaves were being assembled and transported along the African coast, from Mauritania to Angola, no one ethnic group could be specified as the sole perpetrator. This, Asante being the perpetrators of slave trade, is an indigenous Ghanaian creation, when in the 1970s, some people started their attempt to rewrite the history of Ghana, where Asante would be, at best insignificant, but preferably subdued. It gained traction in the 1980s and 90s when those people were the authorities on all issues in Ghana. For some of us in the diaspora since the beginning of the 1980s, we were sometimes rudely shocked when in Pan-African settings we were confronted with such nonsense (excuse my Swahili), and on top of it all, the source was supposed to have come fr...

Yaa Asantewaa, the queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, Ghana [1840 – 1921]  Yaa Asantewaa was born in 1840 and passed on in 1921. She was a good farmer and a successful mother. A policymaker, a human rights activist, the Queen and a leader who was very intelligent. Yaa Asantewaa is popular and famous for leading the Ashanti rebellion to defend the Golden Stool against British colonial rule. She advocated women’s liberation and equality between men and women. She was the sister of Nana Akwasi, Ruler of Ejisu (Ejisuhene), an ethnic group in today’s Ghana.  Asantewaa was named Queen Mother by her brother, Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese. After the Asante Civil War, Akwasi died between 1883 and 1888. After his death, Yaa Asantewaa, who was very significant as a queen mother, used her influence to recommend her grandson as ruler of Ejisu. In 1896, the British exiled her grandson as well as the King of Asante (Prempeh I) to Seychelles. This was Britain’s way of dealing with Afric...