Otumfour Osei Tutu II has disclosed that Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, despised the Ashanti people.
During the first Asanteman Council Meeting of the year on Monday at Kumasi’s Manhyia Palace, the ruler of the Asante Kingdom admitted that, despite Nkrumah’s dislike for them [Asantes], he carved the Bono Ahafo area out of Western Ashanti.
He said that the formation of the Bono area cannot harm the Asante Kingdom’s traditional autonomy since the new region formed by Nkrumah at the time did not alter the existence of the traditional arrangement.
He added that Asanteman’s authority and autonomy have never been challenged and that the creation of new political-administrative regions does not affect existing conventional relationships.
Similar initiatives during the colonial and post-independence eras had little influence on the established Asanteman, according to Otumfuo.
However, he cautioned that no chief should see the previous system as null and invalid as a result of the establishment of new territories.
The Asanteman Council is a gathering of the paramount chiefs of the Ashanti, Bono East, and Bono regions who pay tribute to the Golden Stool. Chiefs from the Ahafo, Eastern, Western, Western North, and Oti areas are also present.
“Recently, the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo areas were formed by the government.” Previously, under Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s rule, a similar incidence occurred. He carved out the Bono Ahafo area of Western Ashanti.
“Even Kwame Nkrumah, who despised us at the time, recognized that the establishment of new regions was not designed to undermine existing conventional relationships, but rather to aid local development and enhance government.”
“Bono Ahafo’s installation did not bar those chiefs who had previously sworn loyalty to the Golden Stool from doing so,” he stated.
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