The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is 66 years old today, Friday May 6.
The revered King of the Ashanti kingdom who was born Nana Barima Kwaku Duah, is one of five children. He ascended the Ashanti monarchy on 26 April, 1999, to succeed the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II.
He is the youngest child of Ashanti Empress Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa (Empress mother of the Empire of Ashanti).
His father Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa was from Kantinkyere in Ashanti and was also the Brehyia Duke of Ashanti. Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa died on 1 January 2002, in Kumasi, Ashanti.
Osei Tutu has six children. His father had other offspring from other marriages, including Yaw Boateng, Kwaku Duah, Kwabena Agyei-Bohyen, Afua Sarpong and Ama Agyemang (Kumasi, Ashanti), Fredua Agyeman Prempeh, Nana Kwasi Agyemang Prempeh and Nana Kwasi Boachie Gyambibi (Kumasi, Ashanti).
Emperor Asantehene Osei Tutu II’s name at birth, Nana Barima Kwaku Duah, is the name of the Ashanti emperor’s paternal grandfather.
At a meeting with the Asanteman Council in the early days of his enthronement as Asantehene, he summarised his intentions as follows: “Our predecessors engaged in inter-tribal wars, fighting for conquest over territories and people.
“Today, the war should be vigorous and intensive against de-humanisation, poverty, marginalisation, ignorance, and disease. Chieftaincy must be used to propel economic development through proper lands administration, through facilitating investments in our communities, and through codification of our customs and traditions, making it impossible for imposters to get enstooled and creating unnecessary situations for litigation.”
Tutu II Osei Profile:
Detailed Biography
Nana Kreku Duah, son of Nana Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwah Ampem II was born in Kumasi on May 6, 1950. His father was Nana Boakye Danquah of Nkyenkyire. At a very early age, he was adopted by his uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, Hiahene, one of the leading chiefs at the court of Manhyia, who took it upon him to groom the young royal for the future. Oheneba Mensah Bonsu was one of the main reconcilers at a time of great political turbulence in the relations between Ashanti and central government during the reign of Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II.As part of the grooming process, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, now deceased, decided against sending him to Prempeh College in Kumasi where most of the royals in Kumasi were being educated. Rather he sent him to the late Omanhene of Sefwi Wiawso, Nana Kwadwo Aduhene, who had him enrolled at Sefwi Wiawso Secondary School in 1964.
He returned to Kumasi to complete his ‘A’ levels at Osei Kyeretwie Secondary School.
Nana Kwaku Dua moved to Accra to begin an accountancy course at the Institute of professional Studies, Legon in 1971. In 1973, he proceeded to the United Kingdom where he studied first at Kilburn Polytechnic before enrolling at the University of North London for a Diploma in Management as Public Administration.
He became a member of the Institute of Personnel Management in the UK in 1985. Nana Kwaku Dua worked as a finance officer at the Food Processing Company, Oxo in London and as Personnel Administrator at the Manpower Services Commission attached to Brent Council. In 1980, he moved to Canada and worked for a year as a senior consultant with the Mutual of Omaho Insurance Company of Toronto; he then participated in a company-sponsored course in insurance at the University of Toronto. He returned to Ghana in 1989 to set up his own business Transpomech International (Ghana) Limited of which he remains the Executive Director. The company supplies mining equipment to mining companies. Looking at the region where he comes from (it is the seat of political activities), Nana Dua was brought up to avoid involvement in partisan politics and instead maintain a posture which should build bridges, heal wounds and help forge a collaborative effort towards the socio-economic development of Ashanti and Ghana. Nana is married to Yaa Akyaa, who has three children, Nana Afua Kobi, 23, Kweku Bonsu, 26 and Nana Kwadwo Bonsu, 4. His enstoolment makes him 16th King of the Golden Stool and the 19th Asantehene. He succeeded his late uncle, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, who died on February 25, 1999 at the age of 80 after a short illness.
By: Dan Kwasi Prince// www.dailyviewgh.com
