Did you know that the Asantehene was made the life president of the National House of Chiefs when it was established by Ghana's first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah?
According to historian and lawyer, Yaw Anokye Frimpong, the late Nkrumah made the Asantehene the lifetime president of the House of Chiefs to honour the king's greatness.
He said that the first President of Ghana also strategically established the headquarters of the National House of Chiefs at the Manhyia Palace so that whoever is the Asantehene would not have to move for meetings of the House of Chiefs.
"It was Nkrumah who designed, based on history, that the Asantehene should be the lifetime president of the National House of Chiefs. Because this man (the Asantehene) is the head of a kingdom which is otherwise an empire, a kingdom which is otherwise about three times the size of this independent country called Ghana… So, if it is not possible to restore Ashanti to an empire, then let us honour their king as being, what in Latin we call primus inter pares, that he will be the head of all the chiefs as life president," he said in an interview on CTV on November 26, 2024.
The historian indicated that it was during the era of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong that the status of the Asantehene as the lifetime president of the National House of Chiefs was, however, changed.
This was after the then-Okyenhene and Dormaahene petitioned Acheampong to allow for elections to choose the president of the House of Chiefs because they all had the same statuses as the Asantehene.
The military leader, being an Asante man himself, conferred with the then Asantehene, Opoku Ware II, about the proposition of the Okyenhene and the Dormaahene and the King of Asanteman agreed that the president of the National House of Chiefs should be elected.
Opoku Ware II, however, told Acheampong that the headquarters of the House of Chiefs would remain at Manhyia so that all the chiefs would come and greet him before going for their meetings.
"Until in the 70s when the then Okyenhene, Kuntunkunuku, and Dormaahene, Osagyefo Agyeman Badu I, would go and tell then-Colonel Acheampong, that 'See, we are all chiefs, but when we sit there, the Asantehene is the king of Ashanti, no dispute about that; Dormaahene is the paramount chief of Dormaa; Yaa Naa, Dagomba; Ga Mantse, Ga, so how come Nkrumah has made this man a life president? Please, we want you to diffuse the whole thing so that each one of us will be able to contest the election. If the Asantehene contests and he wins 1,000 times, we don't have a problem. If he loses, another person will win'," he said.
He added that the Asantehene opted out of the House of Chiefs and appointed some of the paramount chiefs under him to the National House of Chiefs.
Watch Anokye Frimpong's remarks in the video below:
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