I am apolitical; I am for Ghana – Asantehene

The Monarch of Ghana’s Asante people, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has said he does not side with any political party against the other, as far as politics in the country is concerned.

“There are times people connote whatever we do with politics, but I want to assure you that as Asanthene, I stand in the middle,” he told diplomats, who gathered at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region recently for the premiering of a video documentary titled: “The Return of Asantehene from the Seychelles.”

“I don’t care about your politics,” he said, adding: “I stand for Ghana and Asanteman, and, therefore, whatever it is that I can do to bring stability, that is what I care [about].”

The 40-minute video documentary catalogued the historic visit, in April this year, of the Monarch, to the Seychelles – exile home of his great forebears 120 years ago.

In 1896, at the height of British colonialism in Africa, the British government discontinued the office of Asantehene – the absolute ruler of the Asante people – and exiled to the Seychelles, the then-king, Nana Agyeman Prempeh I, the current Asantehene’s great-uncle.

Twenty-seven years later, the British allowed Prempeh I to return home in 1926, but initially permitted him to adopt a lesser title, but eventually restored Asante self-rule and the title of Asantehene in 1935.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu was in the archipelago as the guest of honour for the fifth annual ‘Carnaval International de Victoria.’

The carnival attracted high-ranking delegates, from twenty-nine countries, including Swaziland’s King Mswati III’s eldest daughter, Principal Princess.

Two months before his visit, his late great-uncle’s great-granddaughter, Princess Molly Germaine Prempeh, who was born in the Seychelles, returned in an emotional visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago of 115 islands after a 60-year absence.

During his visit to the State House of the Seychelles, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II commended the “beauty of the country and its people,” adding that his visit was an opportunity to learn more about the exile his great-uncle.

His host, President Michel expressed the Seychelles' commitment to preserve the unique historical links and heritage between the two countries.