Remains of deceased Ahanta King arrives

Accra, July 25, GNA - Government on Friday announced the arrival of the remains of the deceased Nana Badu Bonsu II, the eighteenth century Ahanta King whose head was decapitated by the Dutch colonialists and sent to Holland.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said following a successful negotiation between Ghana and the Netherlands, the remains would be arriving in the country today Friday July 24, 2009. It said the essence was to give the late king a befitting interment by the chiefs and people of the Ahanta Traditional area.

The statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Boateng, Assistant Director of Information and Linguistics Bureau of the Ministry said the late Nana Bonsu II was enthroned during the era of the Dutch colonial occupation of the coast of Guinea, including the Western Region of present day Ghana. It said it was alleged that the late king ambushed and killed a number of Dutch soldiers in an exchange of hostilities.

The statement added that the massacre was a slap in the face of the Dutch colonial occupation and a punitive expedition was dispatched to arrest the king who was eventually court-martialled, found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.

It said the penalty was executed in June 1838 after, which his head was

severed and taken to Holland where it eventually ended up in the Leiden

University Centre for Medical Research near the Hague. "The issue of the remains of Nana Badu Bonsu II came to the attention of

government when it was raised by a Dutch historian, Arthur Japin during a state

visit to the Netherlands in October 2008. The statement said Ghana's embassy in the Netherlands was instructed to

secure the release and return to Ghana of the remains of the Ahanta king for a

befitting burial. Accordingly, the Ghana Embassy negotiated with the Dutch authorities over

a period of 6 months and succeeded in obtaining the necessary consent and

approval for the transfer of the remains to Ghana On Wednesday, July 22 2009, a 7-member delegation from the Ahanta

Traditional area led by Nana Etsin Kofi II, arrived in the Hague to formally take

possession of the remains of Nana Bonsu II.