Otumfuo Osei Tutu II hosted a Durbar And Food Fair for Asanteman Queen Mothers
The Asanteman is celebrating a 25 years of Otumfour Osei Tutu II’s reign. The Otumfour Osei Tutu II was installed as the Asantehene since April 26, 1999 as the replacement of Otumfour Opoku Ware II who died in February 1999.
In due to the celebration, the Manhyia palace has made available a program list that will be observed to celebrate Osei Tutu II’s 25th Anniversary – the silver jubilee of Otumfour – throught the year.
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The observed activities for the celebration of Otumfour Osei Tutu II’s silver jubilee as shared by a pro social media page of Asanteman “the Asante Nation” are listed below:
- Celebration of 150 years of the Sir Garnet Wolseley War, popularly known as the Sagrenti War. One of the biggest wars fought between the Whites and the Blacks on the African continent. This was the third Anglo-Asante War and the first-ever war which was fought on Asante soil. The war was fought on 6th February 1874. The activity to observe this century and half old war includes holding a symposium on the 6th of February 2024 to educate the public about the cause of the war, and the positive and negative effects on Asante. And on the 8th of February, a mini-durbar will be held to climax the Sagrenti War.
- Asantehene will celebrate Odwira. Ɔsanteman will celebrate Odwira, to wit “yɛbɛtwa dwira”. Odwira means cleansing. All the river gods of Asanteman will undergo spiritual purification. They include Tano, Pra, Offin, Bia, Antoa Anyaman, Bosomtwe, etc.That is, physically, Nananom and their divisions would have to go to the rivers and perform the needed rites associated with the ceremony, respectively. I like the environmental angle of this. It will throw spotlights on our rivers and show how damaged or less state they are in now. Thus, climate change and environmental sustainability.
- All tribal communities in Asantema all not left out. A durbar will be held to honour their contribution towards Asanteman as well as the peaceful co-existence since ages.
- The newly renovated Manhyia Palace Museum will be commissioned this year to continue to educate visitors and tourists about the Asante history and culture.
- The Asante Kingdom’s looted artefacts will returned this year from British Museums to the Manhyia Palace Museum to boost tourism. These Ornaments include:
– 13 pieces of Asante Court regalia, 105 items: including King Kofi Karikari’s Gold Head which is the largest known piece of historic goldwork made outside Egypt, Important ceremonial bowl which stood outside the royal mausoleum at Bantama.
- Manhyia Palace Banquet Hall will be commissioned this year.
- The phase I of Heal Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital termed as the legacy project will be completed this year. The project is in two phases, phase I and phase II.
- The Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation will embark on a lot of educational and health projects including the Otumfuo-Smile Dental outreach and Otumfuo-Agroecom Mobile Learning projects in the rural communities.
- The Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation will also organize the Otumfuo Community Reading Challenge, the Silver Jubilee edition. They will also distribute 1000s of 25th-anniversary textbooks to schools in rural communities in Asanteman.
- The most talked about calendar, The Pirelli, which features its first Black Monarch, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will be released this year.
- Ghana Post will launch a Commemorative stamp to honour Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II 25th Anniversary Celebration.
- There shall be Queenmothers Day celebration before the Grand Akwasidae Kɛseɛ durbar to climax the anniversary celebration. During the Queenmothers Day celebration which is termed ” Ahemaa Da”, a very big durbar will be held for Nananom Amanhemaa and Abremponhemaa in the entire kingdom.
- As for theatrical performance, concerts and co will be a lot so we need you all to come on board to make this year a success. We need all our musicians both gospel, highlife, and hiplife artists home to also support this mega anniversary year.
As part of the listed activities, the Otumfour Osei Tutu II on today, April 24, 2024 held a durbar and a food fair for all the Queen Mothers in Asanteman.
Photos of the event can be found in the attachment below: