Asantehene’s 74th Birthday Resplendent
How time flies. He ascended the throne when he was 49. A relatively young age among all Asantehenes. Into the 25th year of his reign, that adds up to 74.
His Majesty the King of Ashanti (Asantehene), Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is now firmly a septuagenarian.
This birthday, coinciding with his silver jubilee celebration, makes it a double. While friends and well-wishers joined the King and Lady Julia to mark this birthday, they had also at the back of their minds, the 25th anniversary of his enthronement. A back-to-back on Ashanti calendar that also turns the attention of the rest of Ghana and even beyond, to the King.
Among senior citizens who attended the occasion of the 74th Birthday of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II are, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, former First Kady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the leader of the Alliance for Revolutionary Change, Alan Kyerematen, a former Chief of Ghana Mission in New York, also the Paramount Chief of Asante Bompata, Nana Effah Apenteng, the Chairman of Council of State, also the Paramount Chief of Juaben Asante, Daasebre Otuo Siriboe II, the Chief of Staff of Government, Madam Frema Osei Opare, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture and recently a Presidential Aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and a former President of Anglogold Ashanti Mining Conglomerate, Sir Dr Sam Jonah.
The Ga Mantse, Nii Tetteh Kpobi Tsuru III was also among the dignitaries that included a formidable presence of other traditional rulers, politicians, clergymen and women and other well-wishers.
A Senior Chorister of the St. Cyprien Anglican Cathedral in Kumasi, where the thanksgiving service took place, Mr. James Osman Adjei told the interesting story behind Ashantis and the Anglican Church. He said, when the 13th occupant of the Gold Stool of Asante, Sir Agyemang Prempeh I, was taken into captivity by the British, and incarcerated at the Elmina Castle on the coast of Ghana, and then to Sierra Leone before the Seychelles, he ended up co-opted into the Anglican Faith. Since then, all other Asantehenes, and most Asante chiefs and queens have toed that religion.
The 16th occupant of the Gold Stool who is the current King, His Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is celebrated for many reasons. He is both ab enforcer of traditions and contributions made by his predecessors as well as development agent in the 21st century we find ourselves.