Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has for the first time publicly shared his life story throwing light on how he was deprived of the comfort and experience that comes with being born a royal despite being born one.
Recounting his life experience, he said he was informed he was nearly not born into the world but for his uncle, the 14th Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Agyemang Prempeh II.
“My mother told me she almost did not have me because she wanted to opt out of her marriage after my elder siblings were born. This was because my father was promiscuous but then when she told me my uncle, Nana Agyemang Prempeh, he opposed the idea. According to him {Prempeh II}, he had not yet gotten the child he wanted from their union… My mother reunited with my father after a while and gave birth to me. After that, she decided to get a divorce and got the backing of my uncle.”
He said this explains the vast age difference between himself and his siblings.
That appears to be just the beginning of his life story. His Majesty said he was adopted by one of his uncles, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, who at the time was the Hiahene, at the age of four and grew up away from royalty and the Manhyia Palace.
Otumfuo grew up with the knowledge that Oheneba was his biological father and his sons, his biological siblings.
“This was a plot between my mother and my uncle (Prempeh II) because they didn’t want me to grow up in the Palace and royalty. He (Hiahene) catered for me in the Division School. I was not allowed to go to the Manhyia Palace. My biological mother would come for a visit to our house at Ash-town under the guise of visiting my uncle (the Hiahene). My uncle the King would sometimes pass by and I would be asked to serve him, much to my ignorance that I was related to him.”
He said he graduated from Division schools and gained admission into Prempeh College, his dream school, only to be enrolled into Sefwi Wiawso Secondary School (SEWASS).
By the time he was through with high school, his brother, Opoku Ware II had taken over as the 15th Asantehene.
“After SHS, my elder brother was the King so they went to tell him I had gained admission into IPS to read Accountancy….from there, I went abroad for further studies. I was assisted by my siblings from the side of my uncle the Hiahene. As such, I knew nothing about my mother.”
He was subsequently informed about his true identity and the motive behind it by his mother, the late Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, the 13th Queen of the Kingdom.
“This is my humble beginning. They didn’t want royalty to get into my head. I thank my two uncles for how they brought me up,” Otumfuo said at his 74th Birthday Thanksgiving Service at the St Cyprian’s Anglican Cathedral on May 6, 2024.
Source: Manhyia Palace
