Introducing The Most Forgotten Ghana’s Nationalist Leader My Maternal Grandpa Kwesi Ansu to The Contemporary Ghanaian Society

Homage to Ghana’s national personality in the person of my maternal grandpa Nana Kwesi Ansu (I'm seen behind him in the attached photo as a CHILD KING). My maternal grandfather Kwesi Ansu was a traditional ruler cum politician. He was the Mansenhene or Wamfiehene (chief of Mansen people of Wamfie), Krontihene (Second-In-Command) and Head of King Makers in Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom. He was responsible for me being the former CHILD KING that is now chief target of political persecution of his family by his political enemies. At age 1 with birth name Nana Kofi Ansu-Gyeabour grandpa Nana Kwasi Ansu made me Mansen people of Wamfie first King of Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom and owner of his wealth which the Nkrumah hijacked Rawling’s Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) military government of Ghana confiscated and use some to form Wamfie Rural Bank.

Grandpa Kwesi Ansu helped Nkrumah financially to win his first election in 1951. Nkrumah’s electoral victory in 1951 politically catapulted and self-marketed him nationwide enabling him and his party to easily win subsequently held elections in the country. It made the colonial gov’t also to give him his first gov’t post as Leader of Government Business later to be changed to Prime Minister. My maternal grandfather was a nationalist leader initiating the "Matemeho" (I have broken away) Campaign in 1952 against Nkrumah and his party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) after Nkrumah displayed ingratitude, insubordination and poor governance skills in settling a traditional tax dispute that emerged between him and his cousin the then Dormaa-Gyaman King by name Osagyefo Nana Agyeman Badu I who was nicknamed Nkrumah's de-facto Vice President.

Baffuor Osei-Akoto later persuaded him to join his newly formed party, the National Liberation Movement (NLM), and pursue his grievances within such a political organization. NLM and later United Party (UP) are known as parties of traditional rulers or authorities. It was my maternal grandfather who introduced the idea for formation of UP after Nkrumah tried to abolish NLM with the "Avoidance of Discrimination Law" in 1957. A year after, Nkrumah in the company of police personnel, national security operatives and mob groups from Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom personally physically assaulted him, dethroned him, imprisoned him and persecuted him from 1958 until 1966 when Nkrumah was overthrown. My maternal grandfather is technically the leader of the anti-Nkrumah Movement and founder of UP Political Tradition in Ghana. He together with Ghana Founder J. B. Danquah are two of Nkrumah and his followers arch enemies but especially him.

He was a leading figure in the two main opposition parties of NLM and UP working with Ashanti King Prempeh II, Ghana Founder J. B. Danquah, Ghana Prime Minister Busia, NLM founder and Chief Linguist of Ashanti King by name Baffour Osei- Akoto whose son is Ghana’s current Minister of Agriculture in the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) gov’t. Other members of his team included his personal lawyer Victor Owusu who is nicknamed Ghana's "Near President" or "The President That Never Was". Victor Owusu was also leader of the opposition in Parliament during Ghana's Third Republic. Victor Owusu is known as godfather of the ruling NPP. NPP emanates from the UP as well as NLM and Danquah’s United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which is Ghana’s first formed political party.

Victor Owusu originates from my father's hometown of Ashanti-Agona. My father by name GODWIN Kwame Osei-Tutu who is partly Ashanti and Ewe belongs to the royal family of Ashanti-Agona via the father Nana Kwame Osei-Tutu who was a former classmate of President Kufuor of NPP at Prempeh College in Kumasi and also member of NLM and UP. The father of my paternal grandfather Nana Kwame Osei-Tutu emanates from Ashanti royal family at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi but because of the sociologically matrilineal nature of Ashanti and the Akan tribal groupings in general, we do not relate to that side but only to Ashanti-Agona.

General Afrifa that co-led the overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966 and later became Ghana's military Head of State also worked with my maternal grandfather Nana Kwesi Ansu in NLM and UP. Afrifa originates from Ashanti-Mampong which is a town close by Ashanti-Agona. Since UP was amalgamation of parties, my maternal grandfather worked with two traditional rulers cum politicians whose party known as Northern People’s Party (NPP) was integral to UP formation. And these national personalities were Dombo and Mumuni Bawumia (father of Ghana’s current Vice President in the ruling NPP gov’t). However, Mumuni Bawumia later cross carpeted to join Nkrumah’s CPP gov’t and after to National Democratic Congress (NDC) which is known as the party formed by Ghana’s military and their regime of Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) led by Rawlings.

My maternal grandfather Kwesi Ansu’s father was a royal of Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom and brother to both the King and the Queen. His mother was the queen mother of Mansen people of Wamfie. The royal family of Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom come from the royal family of Akwemu Kingdom which is the first Empire in Ghana whiles the royal family of Mansen people of Wamfie also come from the royal family of Denkyira which is the first Kingdom in Ghana. As by Akan matrilineal inheritance tradition, my grandfather was enthroned as Chief of Wamfie with a dual role as Krontihene of Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom around somewhere in 1930s. The Krontihene is the second in command and leader of the King Makers who has the final say as who becomes the next King. The son of his aunty the queen mother of Dormaa-Gyaman kingdom was Agyeman Badu I whom my grandfather later chose to become King of Dormaa-Gyaman kingdom in 1951. Before then, my grandfather himself served as Acting King of Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom in 1949 after his uncle the King had been destooled.

My grandfather was very affluent and one of the richest people if not the richest in pre and post-independence Ghana. He was rich before ascending to the throne of Wamfie. His business dealings with mainly British citizens included trading in gold, cocoa, stool lands, real estate and transportation. He was noted at that time as the man who measures pounds sterling with cocoa sags. He operated mainly in the Wam region which comprised territories of present day Dormaa-Gyaman Kindom, Wamfie and Berekum. Before ascending to the throne, my grandfather’s business took him to Berekum where he became the first person to use a car at that place. He was nicknamed at Berekum as “Berekum Broni” meaning “Berekum Whiteman”. It was in Berekum that he married his first wife from the Berekum royal family that led to the birth of many children including my mother by name Afia Ansu. This my maternal grandmother had her residence near the Berekum chief’s palace where I used to stay as well until I left in 1981 to my father’s place at age 3 after the passing of my grandfather.

Since Wamfie and Berekum shares borders and with popularity of my grandfather in Berekum, it made the people to believe false rumours after my grandfather became Wamfie chief that he was using his money to try and annex Berekum to Wamfie and make himself chief there too. The rumours started at a time he had conflict with his cross cousin the Dormaa-Gyaman King Osagyefo Nana Agyeman Badu II and was annexing nearby towns to form a paramount traditional state in order to secede from Dormaa-Gyaman Kingdom. The Wam region is part of a broader geographical area of upper Western Ghana known as Brong-Ahafo region sharing boundary with republic of Cote D’Ivoire. In the wake of conflicts that emerged within the Ashanti confederacy headed by the Ashanti King, my grandfather began initiating moves to lead the Brong-Ahafo area to secede from the confederacy. A move he later abandoned when Nkrumah came to the picture and he team up with the Ashanti King to defeat Nkrumah.

In 1947, Ghana Founder J. B. Danquah employed Nkrumah as General Secretary of Ghana’s first political party that he had formed. Nkrumah took advantage of this offer and began travelling sometimes trekking to the hinterlands of Ghana without the knowledge of J. B. Danquah and other executive members of UGCC to market himself and persuade rich traditional rulers notably my grandfather to support him with money to enable him help grant independence for Ghana with a promise of adopting the governance style of the British crown system after independence. With this Nkrumah pledged to return governmental power to traditional rulers as he will make them control the state whiles he leads the elected government in a bicephalous political governance system. But it was all deception. A trait later to be seen in all his followers and their regimes. After Nkrumah broke ranks with UGCC and formed his own party, the CPP in 1949, my grandfather who was very generous with his money (a trait I inherited), funded his new party and this helped Nkrumah to win his first ever election in 1951 as I have already made mention of. To reiterate, Nkrumah’s electoral victory in 1951 made the colonial government to appoint him as Leader of Government Business, a post later to be changed to Prime Minister.

By: Kennedy Osei-Tutu a.k.a Kofi Ken-Nedy Osei-Tutu(nickname: Kofi Rawlings)