My royal identity was kept from me – Asantehene recounts

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has disclosed that he never knew he was a royal until the time came for him to be installed as king.

Speaking at a thanksgiving service to mark his 74th birthday, as part of his silver jubilee celebrations as king of the Ashanti land, the Otumfuo said that measures were put in place to ensure that he never came to the Manhyia Palace.

The king of Asanteman said that his mother used to tell him that he would have never been brought into this world because she almost left his father, but his uncle, the late Asantehene, Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II, pleaded with her to stay.

“My mum told me that she would not have given birth to me at all. My mother said my dad was a womaniser, so she wanted to leave their marriage after the birth of my sibling whom I come after. She told me that the then Asantehene, my uncle, Osei Agyemang Prempeh… told her that there was something he wanted from her and would not allow her to leave.

“… After my mum gave birth to me, she said she couldn’t stay in the marriage because my dad (Boakye Danquah) had not stopped his bad deeds. Then my uncle (Prempeh II) told her that he now had what he wanted, so she could leave,” Otumfuo narrated.

He went on to narrate how Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II planned with some family relations to bring him up the way he wanted, far away from issues of the kingdom, chieftaincy, and the Manhyia Palace.

He indicated that his uncle even stopped him from being enrolled in his favourite school, Prempeh College, and made him enrol at Sefwi Wiawso Secondary School, where a disciplinarian teacher was put in place to train him.

The Asantehene said that after his secondary school education, he travelled abroad to continue his education, where he lived with family relations of his father.

“It was after this that everything was brought to bear, and I am where I am today,” he said.

Watch the Asantehene’s remarks in the videos below:





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