Married to the Chief of Adumasa of Akwamu Traditional area,Nana Ansah Kwaw IV,
Oheneyere Gifty Anti took to her Instagram page to upload images of how the King of Akwamu,Odeneho Kwafo Akoto made his way to Manhyia palace to pay his last respect to the Late Asantehemaa,Nana Afia Kobi Ampem.
It has been a grand funeral ceremony at the Manhyia palace.Almost every Ashanti Chief is in attendance with their subjects to pay their last respect to the queenmother.
Akwamu has close ties with the Ashantis that dates back to the 17th century when they shielded Nana Osei Tutu running away from the then powerful Denkyira.Osei Tutu stayed at the Akwamu palace so many years until he was called to occupy the Kwaman stool.It was at the Akwamu palace where he met the great fetish priest Okomfo Anokye.
With the love Nana Ansah Sasraku has for Osei Tutu he required Okomfo Anokye plus 300 Asafo men(soldiers) to guide him to Kwamaan.When Osei Tutu arrived ,he gave all the men to Kwamaan Asafohene and they became citizens of Asafo and that won Kumase Asafohene the title Akwamuhene of Kumase. According Oral traditions,these men taught the Ashanti army the art of war,the structure of the Ashanti army started by Nana Osei Tutu which helped the Ashantis through many wars,was a direct replicate of the well organised Akwamu army.The Akwamu directed the "the three fold approach" a war strategy unknown to armies alike-(Adonten,Benkum,Nifa)-the front guard,the left guard and right guards.Nana Osei tutu was also helped by the Anumfo which later became Adumfo, accompanied him from Akwamu,the Anumfo were chief executioners and helped Osei Tutu in all execution cases.They settled at present day Adum.Large number of Ashantis today are descendants of Akwamus especially people of Asafo,Adum,Bantama and Barekese.Large numbers of Akwamu descent could be found in Aburi,Nsakye,Sakyikrom,Akwatia,Bono,Asamankese,James Town etc(Nana after their King Ansah Sasraku who founded it)
The Akwamu with their motto,"Ye nim nanso yenka"(We know but We don't say) was a powerful empire that started from the 14th century to the late 18th century.The Akwamus origin is traced back to 570 AD in the old Ghana empire.Their empire stretched from part of present day Cote D'Ivoire through Ghana to Benin.In 1693 led by Nana Asemani attacked the Christianborg,official home and trading post of the Danish governor and his soldiers ,drove them out of the then Gold Coast,Nana Asemani became the first and the only black Governor by then in the world.The Akwamu controlled most of the trade routes from the interior to the coast in the eastern half of present Ghana with a capital at Nyanoase.After a year ,the castle was sold to the Swedes but retained the key and Nana Asemani not returning to Akwamu,settled at the southeastern part of the Gold Coast to enjoy his riches.
The castle key is still at the Akwamufie. In 1720s there was a lot disagreement between the Akwamus and it caused some battles between them,those who won sold the King allies to slavery.The slaves were sold to the carribean,St, Johns Island.In 1733,the slaves whom were royals back in Gold coast refused to see themselves as slaves and rebelled.They killed all the whites on the island and seized the island for 23 days.Later re-enforcement was called from France and Britain ,fought the Akwamus slaves and retook the island.The whites refused to buy slaves from Akwamu due to their troublesome nature.
The Akwamus had contributed a lot to our cultural traditions from Adowa Dance,the use of 'Asesegua'(stool) by Kings to naming ,marriage and funeral ceremonies etc
(An in-depth history of Akwamu which dates back to 570AD to present day would be covered in a subsequent post.)
See screenshots of photos of Nana Odeneho Akoto with some interesting caption by Oheneyere Kwamo Akoto...
