18/08/2025
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Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II, who reigned from 1931 to 1970, is remembered as the 14th Asantehene to ascend the Golden Stool (Sikadwa Kofi) of the Asante Kingdom. Before his enstoolment, his private name was Mr. E.P. Owusu, and he was the nephew of Nana Prempeh I, the 13th Asantehene he succeeded.
In my adult life, I have devoted considerable time to researching who I am, where I come from and the history of my people. This personal quest has deepened my fascination with the Asante Kingdom, how it was founded, how it endured and how successive Asantehenes have ruled from the Golden Stool. Through these studies, one king in particular has captured my admiration: Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II. He has become my favourite Asantehene, though the greatest of them all will forever remain Nana Osei Tutu I, the founder of the kingdom.
Yes, for his ability to unify all the various Twi-speaking states into one powerful nation Asante, Nana Osei Tutu I personifies immense power, mystery and influence. This enduring legacy partly explains the great authority wielded today by the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who, in my belief, is the reincarnation of Osei Tutu I himself and is, thus, destined to elevate the Asante Kingdom even higher than he inherited it.
But for this Sunday afternoon, I am here to share with you, dear reader, a remarkable information you probably never knew or heard about Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II. Do you know that he was the first Asantehene to take the stool name Osei Tutu II. You are surprised, righy? I was equally astonished when I discovered this.
History records that upon his enstoolment in 1931, Nana Osei Agyemang assumed the stool name Nana Osei Tutu II. However, he later abandoned the name “Tutu” and instead added “Prempeh,” the stool name of his predecessor and uncle, to become known as Nana Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II. Why did he do this? Well, the reason is very telling. The colonial administration strongly discouraged him from using the name Osei Tutu, as they (the colonial government) were deeply unsettled by its powerful and emotive significance.
Here is the reason. The British had long struggled to understand the unbreakable spirit of the Asante people. The arrest and exile of Nana Prempeh I to the Seychelles in 1896 was part of a calculated effort to weaken Asante unity. Yet, even in the absence of their king Nana Prempeh I, the Asantes remained steadfast and unconquerable. When their strategy to exile the king failed to yield the intended impact (ie. break the soul of Asantes), the British attempted an even bolder move: to seize the Golden Stool itself.
In March 1900, the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederic Hodgson, and his wife visited Kumasi and demanded to sit upon the Golden Stool, an act that the Asantes considered the gravest insult imaginable. This demand sparked the War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War of 1900. Though the British claimed victory and exiled Yaa Asantewaa along with 13 others to the Seychelles to join Nana Prempeh I, the soul of the Asante nation remained unbroken.
It is however arguable that the aftermath of these events temporarily silenced the kingdom. This is because some of the powerful Asante states, including Bekwai, Mampong, Juaben, Nsuta, Kumawu, Atebubu, Techiman, Wenchi, Berekum, Wam, Nkoranza, Gyaman and Manso Nkwanta, had abstained from the war, which decision left Nana Yaa Asantewaa and the Kwaman state relatively isolated. This fragmentation weakened the Asante front in the short term, but the British still sensed that the essence of Asante power had not been destroyed. They eventually came to believe that the enduring strength of the people was bound to certain sacred names and symbols, above all Osei Tutu and the Golden Stool.
Therefore, when Mr. E.P. Owusu sought to ascend the stool in 1931 under the name Osei Tutu II, the colonial authorities opposed it. To preserve peace and pursue his vision of restoring the Asante Confederacy, the new king wisely chose diplomacy over confrontation. He dropped “Tutu” and adopted the name of his uncle, becoming Nana Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II.
This was not an act of fear but of strategy. Prempeh II understood that his greatest mission was to reunite the fragmented Asante Confederacy and rebuild the strength of the kingdom. Open defiance of the colonial government at that critical time could have thus derailed this all-important mission.
Indeed, history has vindicated his wisdom. On another day, I will share how Nana Prempeh II successfully restored the Confederacy back into a kingdom and some key developments afterwards. You should however note this afternoon that following his restoration of the Confederacy, all 27 paramount chiefs reaffirmed their loyalty by swearing the Oath of Allegiance to him and then bestowed upon him the highest chieftaincy title of all: Otumfuo.
For now, my purpose is to remind you, dear reader, that there is an enduring mystery and power in the name Osei Tutu and in the Golden Stool, Sikadwa Kofi. Therefore, anybody who decides to rise against either King Osei Tutu (in any reincarnated form) or Sikadwa Kofi do so at his own peril. That is the fact!
