Today, Sunday, May 12, 2024, is the grand durbar for the commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu Ababio, whose reign began in 1999, following the demise of the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II.
It is regarded in the Asante calendar as Akwasidae.
The word ‘Akwasidae’ means ‘the day of the sacred stool’ in the Ashanti language. The sacred stool is an important symbol of the Ashanti people and represents the unity and strength of their community. Akwasidae is in two fold; Adaekɛseɛ and Adaetɔkye. During the Akwasidaekɛseɛ, the gold stool (not golden stool) is brought out for all to see and to pay homage to.
In Akan, ‘Adae’ means ‘place of rest’, and as such Akwasidae is when past kings are called upon to invoke their blessings on the people. Prior to Akwasidae, the preceding Saturday evening, known as Memeneda Dapaa, sees elderly women of the Stool conveying emblematic songs to the palace grounds.
In January this year, the first Akwasidae which was an Adaetɔkye was held at the Manhyia Palace in grand style.
Akwasidae: Meaning, significance as Otumfuo celebrates first Adae Tɔkye with Asanteman
During the celebration, the chiefs in the Asante Kingdom come and sing to pay homage to the Asantehene, with all manner of people paying homage to him. But on an occasion such as the Akwasidaekɛseɛ, the people of Breman are not supposed to sing an appellation to the Otumfuo. They are only allowed to sing to the Asantehene in a moment of war or grief.
Explaining the rationale on GTV Sunday, May 12, 2024, during the live telecast of the durbar, a historian, Nana Frimpong, in a commentary said the people of Breman only sing for the Otumfuo in times of war.
“In the olden days, he (Asantehene) would have been going for a war. That’s why they give him an appellation which says ‘You’re the only one we fear. It is Osei alone we fear’. They will also tell you it’s a taboo to meet Osei on his way to Breman. If you don’t meet him on a good note enroute to Breman, you’ll miss your head. That’s why they sing the song ‘Santrofi anomaa, wohyia no a, w’ahyia mmusuo’. So, he usually goes to Breman with only a few of his chiefs but all his executioners because he has never been to Breman on a lighter note. So, in a happy day like this, Breman is not mentioned. That’s why Breman people did not sing today. If he was to be mourning or doing something so dangerous, Breman people would have sang,” he disclosed.
Aside from the 25th anniversary celebration of the Asantehene’s enstoolment, it also marks the 150 years of the Sagrenti War and 100 years of the return of Nana Agyeman Prempeh I from exile in Seychelles.
