Asantehene corrects misconception of gift to British queen as a declaration of war

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at a lecture at the British Museum on July 19, 2024, educated the British about a symbolic present from the 10th King of the Asante Kingdom, Nana Mensah Bonsu, to the late Queen Victoria whose message was not effectively decoded.
The present - a golden axe - was sent to the Queen only eight years after the destructive Sagrenti War which left Kumasi in flames with some treasures stolen by the British troops.
The present was misconstrued as a declaration of war; however, in actual sense, it reflected a critical trait of the Kingdom- Reconciliation and Peace.
“There was the ancient golden axe which was part of the royal collection at Lisle that was given as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1882 by my great-great-granduncle Nana Mensah Bonsu. British diplomats at the time were aghast. They thought of the gift of an axe almost as a declaration of war because the axe is deemed a weapon of violence or destruction.
“But what was the motivation behind the gift? It was a diplomatic symbol of negotiation intended to convey to the empress that in Asante an axe was used to cut through difficult things including misunderstandings or disputes and to reassure her of Asante’s readiness to sit down together to cut through any misunderstanding to achieve peace.”
This trait, His Majesty said, is ingrained as part of Asantes, citing Agyemang Prempeh I who returned from exile to hold out a hand of friendship to the British in spite of their unforgivable harm.
“The fact that we have overcome the pains of the past speaks to the profound value system is compressed into the challis of our heritage and makes of steadfastness in defence of our independence and realism and wisdom in the pursuit of peace.”
Source: Classfmonline.com
Trending Entertainment
George Clooney is optimistic America has better days ahead
00:47Carlos Santana rushed to hospital prior to concert
00:51Letter reveals Shakespeare did not abandon his wife
02:00Novelist JK Rowling calls for UK PM Starmer to apologise after Supreme Court ruling on women
01:50Films made with AI can win Oscars, Academy says
13:49Class Media Group pays tribute to George Darko, world music star & Highlife music legend
15:07Kwasi Ernest: Table of Men not PR machine for Gospel acts, currently on break
01:52Drake claims he was defamed at the Grammys and Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show
20:25Sean 'Diddy' Combs loses bid to delay sex-trafficking trial
19:49