A meeting of titans at Bogyawe Palace

There was pomp and pageantry at Akwamufie on Saturday, October 7, 2023, when His Royal Majesty, Okumahene Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV, King of Kotoku, stormed the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Akwamu.

Okumahebe Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV was leading a retinue of about four hundred men and women including chiefs to attend the final obsequies of Janet Opo Amoyaw, the late mother of his friend, Lawyer Amoyaw at Akrade in the Akwamu Kingdom.

As part of Royal protocol, the six foot two inches Kotoku Overlord purposefully drove past Akrade crossed the magnificent Adomi Bridge, and droned his convoy into the beautiful ancient town of Akwamufie nestled between forested hills and the Volta Lake to pay a courtesy call on His Royal Majesty, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, King of Akwamu.

Just before the Kotoku King could disembark from his car, about six Akwamu Chiefs rounded up for almost five minutes and made inquiries from their archives to ascertain whether a Kotoku King had visited their palace before.

The quick inquiry revealed no Kotoku King had ever stormed the elegant Bogyawe Palace for more than two hundred and seventy years.  

The Akwamu chiefs then resolved to welcome the Kotoku King with a special libation designed to receive Kings of his caliber who visit the Royal

Palace for the first time.

Samanhyia Darko II, curator of the famous Akwamu Museum and Gyasewahene of

Akwamuhene received Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV and his entourage to the Palace grounds and handed a calabash of wine to the Kotoku King to pour libation.

Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV was then ushered into the great hall at the Bogyawe Palace to meet the overlord of Akwamu Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III.

Addressing Kotokuhene, the Overlord of Akwamu, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III said: “I am elated that the King of Kotoku is here with me in Akwamu. This is a historic day. We have yearned for this meeting for a long time and I believe God’s time is the best. Enormous tasks lie ahead of us".

I believe it would please the ancestors that Akwamuman and Kotokuman would forge ties going forward. Winning wars of the modern world is achieved by harnessing the mental capacities of our subjects for the greater good of our respective kingdoms and Ghana at large”.

Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III who praised the courage and brilliance of the Kotoku Overlord further entreated the chiefs of Kotoku to: “…unite solidly behind Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso IV to gather that which were scattered”.

Oseadeeyo Dr. Frimpong Manso on his part retraced the history of Frimpong Manso the Great as having come out from the union of a male Akwamu royal and Nana Amaninwaa. He stated emphatically that Akwamuhene is thus his father.

The Kotoku King showed appreciation for the role Akwamuhene had played for his Kingdom when it experienced difficult times.

“Our ancestors elected an Akwamu royal in the person of Lawyer Amoyaw who is the nephew of Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III to lead our defense in the courts of law for the past twenty-four (24) years until we saw victory”.

The two great Kings after exchanging pleasantries, drove to the funeral grounds together with Akusiaku Kumi Sasraku VIII, the King of Anum to grace the occasion.