During his 74th birthday dinner on Monday, May 6, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II unveiled a personal narrative that shed light on his intentionally obscured royal lineage during his formative years.
The Asantehene disclosed why he was unable to attend his preferred institution, Prempeh College in Kumasi, during his revelatory speech.
He revealed that his uncle, the then Asantehene Nana Agyemang Prempeh II, purposefully shielded him from his regal heritage, a fact that only came to light later in his life.
Otumfuo recounted being raised away from Manhyia, the royal palace, by his uncle under the guise of being his biological son.
The circumstances surrounding this revelation were detailed by Otumfuo, explaining that his mother had initially sought a divorce from his father due to alleged infidelity.
However, his uncle intervened and persuaded his mother against it, citing that he hadn’t yet achieved his desired outcome from the marriage.
This intervention ultimately led to Otumfuo’s birth and upbringing under his uncle’s guidance.
Additionally, Otumfuo shared how his uncles diverted him from attending Prempeh College, opting instead to enroll him in a different high school.
In his own words, Otumfuo stated: “So, about four years after my birth, I was given to my uncle Kwadwo Bonsu, called Oheneba Mensah Bonsu who was then Hiahene. It was a ploy between my mother and uncle because my uncle didn’t want me to be raised in royalty.”
This narrative, shared during his birthday celebrations, offered a rare glimpse into the intricate family dynamics and decisions that shaped Otumfuo Osei Tutu II’s early life, highlighting the hidden complexities of royal lineage and personal aspirations.
Read his narration below:
“So, about four years after my birth, I was given to my uncle Kwadwo Bonsu, called Oheneba Mensah Bonsu who was then Hiahene.
“It was a ploy between my mother and uncle because my uncle didn’t want me to be raised in royalty.
“So, my uncle took me in as his son. He told me I came after his eldest son, Afodour, and up until recently, I thought I came after him. He sent me to a division school and took care of me. “They didn’t even want me to know Manhyia so they never brought me there.
“My biological mother used to come to our house at Ashtown under the guise of visiting her brother, my uncle.
“Once in a while, Nana Asantehene would come and I’ll be asked to serve him and he would ask about my wellbeing but because they weren’t saying anything, I didn’t know him. Through that, I completed division school and had to enter secondary school.
“My uncle took me to Osae to get all my prospectus for Prempeh College. The current Adontenhene’s mother was the one who bought my prospectus.
“I was there one day when they came to tell me I was going to be transferred to a different school from Prempeh. Most of my friends from Ashtown were all at Prempeh College so I also wanted to be there. K.Y. Asafo Adjei, Mark Addo, Kwabena Poku, and others were all there.
“But because they knew what they were doing, it was Sehwi Wiawso that they took me to. Mr. Osae was the headmaster [at Prempeh College] and he said a disciplinarian friend of his had been transferred from Opoku Ware to Sehwi Wiawso so they would take me there.
“Everything had been orchestrated between my two uncles, (Oheneba Mensah Bonsu and Nana Agyemang Prempeh II, then Asantehene.)
“He said Sehwi Wiawso chief is my son, send him there, if he needs something, he will take care of him. After school my elder brother had arrived and he had gained admission at IPS (now UPSA) to go and study accountancy so he asked him to hand me over to my father’s brother, Engineer Asafo Boakye,” he recounted.
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