The British forced King Agyemang Prempeh I into exile.
His time in the Seychelles is widely recorded.
Otumfuo praises Ashantis’ devotion to their leaders.
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has disclosed why King Agyemang Prempeh I was exiled to the Seychelles by the British.
According to Otumfuo, the British authorities were straining at the time to keep him close to his subjects, who flocked to sites where they knew he was being held.
He attributed this condition of affairs to the citizens’ unwavering devotion to King Prempeh, even when he was imprisoned.
“Wherever he was held on the Gold Coast or in West Africa, his people were willing to walk to attempt and rescue him,” he claimed. They eventually had to ship him across the seas to the Seychelles.
“Even then, the people waited for the British to allow him to return to Kumasi for the entire 25 years he was in exile before pledging their allegiance to the Gold Coast,” Otumfuo remarked.
On May 5, 2022, the beloved monarch delivered a lecture at the University of Memphis in the United States of America.
He also spoke on the kingdom’s historical financial, military, and territorial power, as well as how it had successfully defended itself against invaders.
“We successfully fought off attempts at colonial conquest and remained fiercely independent until the beginning of the last century when King Prempeh I was sent into exile and Asantemen agreed to be absorbed into the Gold Coast under British administration,” he says.
“We have been unwavering in our desire to secure the continued prosperity of the new nation state that is now the Republic of Ghana,” he said.
The speech took place in the University’s Rose Theatre and was titled “Contemporary Challenges in US-Africa Relations.”
Academics, students, university administrators, and members of the Ghana community in Memphis were among the attendees.
