Otumfuo Osei Agyeman Prempeh II and the Formation of Ghana

Otumfuo Osei Agyeman Prempeh II and the Formation of Ghana

Otumfuo Sir Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II was born in 1892 and was a nephew of Asantehene Prempeh I. Prempeh I had been exiled by the British following the British occupation of Asante in 1896.

After Prempeh I’s death in 1931, his nephew became Kumasehene. In 1935, the British colonial authorities recognised him as Asantehene, restoring the title that had effectively been suppressed after the conquest of Asante.

When Prempeh II became Kumasehene, one of his principal objectives was to rebuild the political unity of Asante, which had been badly damaged after the British intervention of 1896.

He worked toward re-establishing the Asante Confederacy Council, later known as the Asanteman Council. In 1935 he was installed as Asantehene.

This was significant because the Asantehene remained a major political authority even though Asante was under British colonial rule.

So Prempeh II entered Gold Coast politics from a position very different from that of ordinary politicians. He represented:

the Asante traditional state;
the Asante chiefs;
the Kumasi political establishment;

Asante’s economic interests and an important body of educated Asante elites. This made him an important figure whenever the constitutional future of the Gold Coast was discussed.

3. The crucial question: Should Asante remain separate? One of the most important parts of Prempeh II’s political career came during the 1930s and 1940s.

The British colonial government had treated Asante differently from the Gold Coast Colony. There were therefore competing ideas about its constitutional future. One possibility was essentially:

Asante should remain constitutionally separate from the Gold Coast Colony. Another was: Asante and the Gold Coast Colony should have a common political system.

Prempeh II eventually supported the second position. According to the historical record, he rejected the colonial government’s attempt to establish an Ashanti Advisory Council in a way that would reinforce Asante’s separation from the Colony. Instead, he supported the Asante-Colony Collaboration Movement and told Britain’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, Oliver Stanley, during Stanley’s 1943 visit that Asante wanted a common legislature with the Colony.

Why was this important?

Because it meant that the Asantehene was not simply demanding that Asante remain isolated from the rest of the Gold Coast.He was helping move the constitutional discussion toward:

Asante + Gold Coast Colony → common constitutional institutions that became particularly important under the Burns Constitution of 1946, which provided for greater constitutional integration and representation.

Prempeh II attended the inaugural meeting of the Legislative Council under the new constitutional arrangement.

4. Prempeh II and the struggle over cocoa .Prempeh II was also involved in economic politics.

In 1936–37, Asante and Gold Coast farmers participated in a boycott against European cocoa interests that were accused of attempting to control cocoa prices and pay African farmers unfairly. Prempeh II supported the farmers’ position.

This is significant because cocoa was becoming the economic foundation of the Gold Coast. The struggle over cocoa prices helped demonstrate that political nationalism was not only about constitutions and flags. It was also about:

Who controlled the Gold Coast’s wealth,? Farmers, chiefs, merchants and emerging nationalist politicians increasingly challenged the economic dominance of European companies.

5. Prempeh II supported early nationalist activity; Prempeh II’s relationship with Gold Coast nationalism was complicated.

He was not a radical nationalist in the manner of Kwame Nkrumah. Nevertheless, he supported several early Gold Coast political initiatives.

For example, in 1934 he supported a Gold Coast and Asante delegation that went to London to oppose colonial legislation considered harmful to African interests, including the Sedition Bill and Waterworks Bill. This shows an important distinction:

Prempeh II supported African political and economic interests.

But:

He did not necessarily support every form of mass nationalist politics. That distinction becomes extremely important after the Second World War.

6. The arrival of Kwame Nkrumah changed everything after World War II, Gold Coast nationalism became much more powerful.

Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) advocated rapid self-government and eventually independence.

Young people, workers, farmers and sections of the educated population increasingly supported mass nationalism.

Prempeh II was much more cautious. He was a traditional ruler and was concerned about the effects of radical mass politics on the institution of chieftaincy and on Asante’s constitutional position.

Historical accounts indicate that he attempted to resist the spread of CPP influence among sections of Asante youth.

This produced a major political divide:

Nkrumah/CPP → unitary national government and rapid independence

versus

Asante political leadership and its allies → greater regional autonomy/federal arrangements

That disagreement would become one of the most important political conflicts immediately before Ghanaian independence.

7. The National Liberation Movement — 1954

This is probably the most important part of Prempeh II’s role in the final constitutional struggle. In 1954, the National Liberation Movement (NLM) emerged in Asante.

The NLM was associated particularly with B. J. da Rocha, Nana Osei Akyemfo Osei, Baffour Osei Akoto, sections of the Asante political establishment, cocoa farmers and other groups.

Its central political demand was a federal constitution.

The NLM argued that the regions should retain substantial powers rather than having political authority concentrated in Accra.

The Manhyia historical archive describes Prempeh II’s period as one in which Asante chiefs and educated elites participated in the independence debate, with the federal demand becoming a major source of confrontation with the CPP.

Academic research likewise documents that the NLM’s demands for a federal constitution and its support among sections of Asante society.

8. Did Prempeh II personally create the NLM?

This requires some caution.It would be inaccurate to say simply: “Prempeh II founded the NLM.”

The NLM was a political movement with several leaders and constituencies. However, Prempeh II publicly supported the NLM, and the Asante traditional establishment became deeply associated with its federalist position. This brought him into direct political conflict with Nkrumah.

9. Why did Prempeh II want federalism? The federalist question needs to be understood from the Asante perspective. Asante had possessed a sophisticated political system long before British colonial rule.

The Asante state consisted of numerous traditional authorities connected through the institution of the Asantehene and the Golden Stool.

Therefore, many Asante leaders feared that a highly centralised national government could effectively absorb the authority of the traditional regions.

The federal proposal offered a different model: Independent Ghana ↓
Regional governments with significant powers ↓
Central government responsible for national matters

The NLM therefore argued that independence should not simply replace British centralisation with Accra-based centralisation.

10. The conflict between NLM and CPP became serious.

The political dispute became extremely intense in Asante.

Violence occurred between supporters of the NLM and CPP, and political tensions contributed to instability in Kumasi and other parts of the region.

Nkrumah’s government and Prempeh II therefore became political opponents. But there is an important point here:

Prempeh II was not opposing Ghanaian independence itself in the simple sense. His disagreement concerned what kind of Ghana should emerge from British colonial rule. That is a much more accurate way of understanding his position.

11. The 1956 election; The constitutional struggle eventually went to the electorate. The CPP won the 1956 election, giving Nkrumah the mandate to proceed toward independence.

The NLM and other opposition groups were unable to prevent the CPP from establishing itself as the dominant political force.

The constitutional question was therefore effectively settled in favour of a more centralised national state rather than the federal model demanded by the NLM.

12. Ghana became independent in 1957; On 6 March 1957, the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana.This was the historic moment when the British Gold Coast ceased to be a colony and became an independent country. Prempeh II therefore did not become the founder or first leader of Ghana.

That distinction belongs principally to the nationalist movement led by Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP, together with the many earlier Gold Coast nationalists and organisations that had fought for constitutional reform and self-government.

But Prempeh II had contributed to the constitutional development that preceded independence.

His earlier support for a common legislature between Asante and the Colony is particularly significant because it helped move Asante toward participation in a common Gold Coast constitutional framework.

13. What happened to Prempeh II after independence? This is another fascinating part of the story.

After Ghana became independent, Nkrumah’s government began consolidating national political authority.

The NLM eventually joined with other opposition groups, including the Northern People’s Party, to form the United Party (UP), which became the principal opposition.

Prempeh II initially remained associated with the opposition/federalist camp. But the political environment changed dramatically.

The government investigated aspects of the Kumasi State Council, and the creation of the Brong-Ahafo Region reduced the territorial scope of the former Asante region. Prempeh II subsequently moved toward cooperation with Nkrumah’s government. By the late 1950s he had largely withdrawn from active national party politics.

14. His contribution went beyond politics;

Prempeh II also contributed to the development of Ghana through education and economic development.

He helped promote investment in Asante and supported traders, farmers, cocoa interests, builders, mining and timber enterprises.

The revenue associated with Asante lands was used to encourage economic and educational development.

He was also associated with important educational initiatives, including Prempeh College, established in Kumasi in 1949.

He later gave land connected with the development of what became Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

So his contribution to the future Ghanaian state was not exclusively political.

15. His final national role;

Prempeh II eventually became increasingly involved in national institutions rather than party politics.

In 1969, he became the first President of the National House of Chiefs.

He was also appointed to Ghana’s Council of State, an important national advisory body.

This is significant because by this point he had moved from being one of the most important opponents of Nkrumah’s constitutional model to becoming a senior traditional authority participating in Ghana’s national political structure.

He died at Manhyia Palace in May 1970.

16. So, what exactly was Prempeh II’s role in the formation of Ghana?

① He helped restore Asante’s political institution; He rebuilt the Asante political structure after decades of colonial disruption and became Asantehene in 1935.

② He helped bring Asante into a common Gold Coast constitutional framework; His 1943 position in favour of a common legislature with the Colony was extremely important. It helped move the constitutional relationship toward integration rather than permanent separation.

③ He participated in the broader struggle against colonial economic policies; His support for the cocoa farmers’ boycott and opposition to legislation considered harmful to African interests connected the Asante institution to wider Gold Coast political activism.

④ He shaped the debate over what independent Ghana should look like ; His support for the NLM and federalism represented a major alternative to Nkrumah’s centralised model of Ghana.

⑤ He ultimately accepted and participated in the Ghanaian state; After independence, he moved away from active opposition and eventually served in national institutions, including the National House of Chiefs and Council of State.

One important correction to a common story ; There is sometimes a story about Prempeh II opposed Ghana’s independence or that he wanted Asante to remain a separate country.

The historical evidence is more complicated ; His position changed over time ; In the early 1940s, he actually supported the idea of a common legislature between Asante and the Gold Coast Colony. Later, however, he supported NLM’s federalist alternative to Nkrumah’s political programme.

So it is misleading to portray him simply as either “a supporter of Ghana” or “an opponent of Ghana.”

A better description is: Prempeh II wanted Asante’s political identity and traditional institutions protected within whatever constitutional system emerged after British rule.

That is why his political position changed as the constitutional struggle evolved.

The creation of Ghana was therefore the result of several overlapping forces:

Asante political tradition + Gold Coast nationalism + educated elites + cocoa farmers + trade unions + the UGCC + CPP/Nkrumah + other regional political movements + constitutional reforms under British rule → Independence in 1957.

Prempeh II was one of the most important traditional actors within that complicated process, but he was not the sole architect of Ghanaian independence.

One particularly valuable primary historical source is History of Ashanti, compiled under Prempeh II between 1937 and 1946. The work is notable because it presents Asante’s history from an Asante royal perspective.

Written by Nana Osei Hyiaman