In what could be described as an emotional meeting that evoked memories of the past, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has invited descendants of the late Prempeh I to visit Kumasi and connect with their extended family.
The Asantehene took advantage of his visit to the islands at the invitation of the President of Seychelles as special guest of the 5th international carnival to meet the descendants of the late Prempeh I.
Nana Agyemang Prempeh I was taken to the Seychelles Islands in January 1896 after surrendering to the British forces under the command of Sir Francis Scott.
The king who had earlier won two battles over the British was moved to the island with 50 others including his mother, three wives and his children. For 28 years he was held in captivity but was released to return to Ghana in 1924 under a special arrangement with the British authority to return as an ordinary man. He died in 1931.
But some of his descendants stayed in the Seychelles and have never been to Ghana. On the sidelines of the Asantehene’s visit to the island, the descendants including great granddaughter of the Prempeh I, Princess Mary Prempeh Marimba struggled to put words together in a meeting with the Asantehene.
“My first son Andrew, Dennis and Suzzy my only daughter are extremely proud to meet you today, very sentimental, very emotional and I do not know what to say, I want to say me and my family are grateful to meet you for the first time,” Mary enthused.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu who celebrated his sixteenth year on the golden stool said he has always been eager to visit Seychelles and to abreast himself with where the descendants of Prempeh I were living.
“When we sit in Kumasi we feel that attachment because we know you are here and for 115 years since the late King was brought here, we have not forgotten that Seychelles is one of our homes,” Otumfuo responded.
He indicated plans are already in motion to facilitate the visit of the descendants to Ghana and Kumasi to enable them reconnect with the family back home. Meanwhile, the Asantehene attended the Seychelles Anglican Church where the late Prempeh converted into Christianity and was baptized.
Together with other prominent chiefs, the mayor of Kumasi, Kojo Bonsu and the Tourism and Creative Art Minister, Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare were taken through photo exhibition depicting the life of Prempeh I and his family on the Seychelles Islands.
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