The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has disclosed that the Asante Kingdom purchased two aircraft for Britain during WWII to aid the Empire's war effort.
The Asantehene stated Asanteman was able to do so because of its financial might while giving a presentation on "Contemporary difficulties in US and Africa relations" at the University of Memphis in the United States of America on Thursday evening [May 5, 2022].
"The individual energy and drive of our people as they applied themselves to cocoa farming have been at the forefront of economic development," he told his audience at the Rose Theatre of the University, which included academics, students, university administrators, and some members of the community.
Expansion
Otumfuo Osei Tutu, speaking of the Asante Kingdom's power, asserted that at its peak, it spanned an area spanning all the way to the Republic of Benin.
"Our folks had relocated to the Ivory Coast, where they today make up nearly a quarter of the population. Felix Houphoet-Boigney, known as the Father of Modern Ivory Coast, and another former President Konan Bedie were from this clan."
He said that the Asante Kingdom was strategically important to colonial nations seeking to rule Africa. "We successfully resisted off efforts at colonial conquest and remained fiercely independent until the beginning of the past century, when King Prempeh I was sent into exile and Asantemen accepted to be merged into the Gold Coast under British administration," he added.
"We have been unwavering in our desire to secure the continued prosperity of the new nation state that is now the Republic of Ghana," he said.
Tensions
On the eve of independence, tensions emerged between Asantemen and the independence movement's leadership, according to Otumfuo Osei Tutu.
"While they were as enthusiastic as anybody to embrace the dawn of independence from foreign domination, Asante's history and traditions compelled them to be more worried about the new state's institutional framework."
As the British discovered when Ruler Prempeh was initially held, Asantes had always been completely devoted to their king. "His people were willing to walk to attempt and rescue him wherever he was held on the Gold Coast or in West Africa." They eventually had to ship him across the seas to the Seychelles. Even though, the people waited for the British to allow him to return to Kumasi for the entire 25 years he was in exile before publicly pledging their allegiance to him.
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