Yaa Asantewaa was larger than life!

By Ebenezer Hanson

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama, Miss Cecilia Abena Dapaah says the legendary “Yaa Asantewaa is larger than life.” She said “it is good to remember heroes and heroines and that a country that has no recognition for its past heroes and heroines has no history.” Hence, the institutionalization of the Yaa Asantewaa festival gives us the opportunity to appreciate the relevance of past events to the present and also helps us to plan for the future.

Ms Dapaah who is also the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing adds that, “the celebration of the festival puts Yaa Asantewaa in the right context and history that she did live and went to war as factually documented.” Sometimes, one is tempted to wonder whether Yaa Asantewaa even existed because of her great exploits, bravery, courage and commanding stature.

She characterizes Yaa Asantewaa as a pride to womanhood because she was prepared to go to war, and the fact that she was prepared to die for her country was commendable. “It was a divine command she had at that period.”

Ms Dapaah was speaking in an interview to the Public Agenda on the relevance of the celebration of the forthcoming Yaa Asantewaa Festival.

Under the auspices of His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, King of Asante Kingdom, the Golden Stool Heritage Foundation, will be organizing the epoch making event, the Yaa Asantewaa Festival from July 28 to August 5, 2006 in Kumasi.

Other Parliamentarians that Public Agenda spoke to consider the celebration of the Yaa Asantewaa Festival as significant in the history of Ghana as it gives recognition to the heroic exploits of a female. The Deputy Attorney-General and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsuta-Kwamang, Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh, said the festival “gives recognition to the heroic exploits of a female against a foreign power which had dominated and enslaved the people.”

He recalled that the view at that time was that a woman’s place was in the kitchen and nobody expected a woman to lead a crusade of that nature: against injustice. Besides, the celebration will enable the current crop of women to know that even in the 1900s. A woman could rise to the occasion when the need arose and therefore the role of women in nation building needs to be highlighted.

“Again, it reminds us of our quest fro freedom and liberty which our forefathers were prepared to die for,” Osei-Prempeh stated. He pointed out that the Yaa Asantewaa war was one of the main challenges that the British faced in the annexation of Asante to the Gold Coast and this was a manifestation of the “people’s aversion to oppression, domination, and the attempt eradicate the culture of the people.”

The festival, expected to be patronized by people from all over the globe, will be an occasion to celebrate Asante history and particularly the life and times of the legendary Yaa Asantewaa, whose heroic feats, rare bravery and enduring enterprise transcend Ghanaian history to that of lands afar.

It is a pedestrian fact that the history of Yaa Asantewaa has been told umpteen times but nothing could be more universal in its appeal or more enduring in its effect than the institutionalization of a festival in remembrance to her magnificent exploits.

History has it that about 106 years ago, Nana Yaa Asantewaa, Queenmother of Edweso, mobilized a powerful army of 20,000 Asante warriors to besiege the British Governor in the fort in Kumasi for seven months in reaction to the British demand for the sacred Golden Stool, which is the soul of the Asante Kingdom and believed to have been conjured from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, a friend of King Osei Tutu I, who was said to be have established the Asante Kingdom.

At the time, the deportation of Otumfuo Prempeh I, and a large number of Asante generals and royals had weakened Asante. Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s singular act of courage therefore demonstrated a whole nation’s opposition to the oppression of colonialism.

In a glowing tribute to Nana Yaa Asantewaa during the Centenary Anniversary Celebration of the Yaa Asantewaa war of 1900-1901, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II had this to say, “Her [Yaa Asantewaa] exceptional place in our history therefore is unique and serves as a beacon of hope and courage for all women in Africa as well as those in the Diaspora.

“Nana Yaa Asantewaa continues to be remembered and honoured by distinguished patriots of African descent, including the first couple of Ghana, Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and the Mayor of Washington D.C., Honourable Marion Barry who have named their daughters after her.”

According to the MP for Kwadaso, Ms. Josephine Hilda Addoh, there is a lot to learn from Yaa Asantewaa against the backdrop of socio-cultural factors, which marginalized women. “Yaa Asantewaa stood for patriotism and the love she exhibited for her people is worthy of emulation. Yaa Asantewaa has proved that what men can do women can also do when given the right push, strength and encouragement.”

She recaps that, Yaa Asantewaa came unto the scene when she felt that the Asante Kingdom was under threat and the men that were supposed to fight were too quiet for her liking. She mobilized and rallied the people behind her and fiercely resisted the British. Such good leaders, she said, are role models.

The MP for Fomena, Akwasi Afrifa, said what Yaa Asantewaa is to the people of Asante can be likened to the name Cleopatra of ancient Egypt. “This is so because of the great achievements she chalked for her people. She led the Asante army to resist the ambition of Governor Hodson to take over the ‘almighty’ Golden Stool of Asante, an attempt which if it had been successful would have dismembered the great Asante Kingdom and that would have brought disunity to the people, obliterate the heroic Asante history, the pride and culture of a great people.”

Furthermore, he argues that the role of Yaa Asantewaa and her achievement demonstrate what the African woman can do. It is also a first class illustration of a people’s attempt to resist imperialist rule. In addition, the celebration of the festival will rekindle the people’s spirit and affirm the belief that in unity lies strength and that Ghanaians as a whole should unite and build upon the achievements of the past.

Mr. Afrifa was happy that the festival is “coinciding with the golden jubilee of our attainment of nationhood which to me means that self-government means self-development.

“So irrespective of your party or ethnic origin, we should copy the illustrious example of patriots like Yaa Asantewaa and join hands together to hold fast what unites us and not what divides us; for it is in unity lies strength and from this strength that we can all bring rapid socio-economic and political development to our dear nation. Long live the sweet memory of Yaa Asantewaa, long live Ghana!”