Accra, July 25, GNA – Government on Friday announced the arrival of the
remains of the deceased Nana Badu Bonsu II, the eighteenth century Ahanta
King whose head was decapitated by the Dutch colonialists and sent to
Holland.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration said following a successful negotiation between Ghana and the
Netherlands, the remains would be arriving in the country today Friday July 24,
2009.
It said the essence was to give the late king a befitting interment by the
chiefs and people of the Ahanta Traditional area.
The statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Boateng, Assistant Director of
Information and Linguistics Bureau of the Ministry said the late Nana Bonsu II
was enthroned during the era of the Dutch colonial occupation of the coast of
Guinea, including the Western Region of present day Ghana.
It said it was alleged that the late king ambushed and killed a number of
Dutch soldiers in an exchange of hostilities.
The statement added that the massacre was a slap in the face of the Dutch
colonial occupation and a punitive expedition was dispatched to arrest the king
who was eventually court-martialled, found guilty and sentenced to death by
hanging.
It said the penalty was executed in June 1838 after, which his head was
severed and taken to Holland where it eventually ended up in the Leiden
University Centre for Medical Research near the Hague.
“The issue of the remains of Nana Badu Bonsu II came to the attention of
government when it was raised by a Dutch historian, Arthur Japin during a state
visit to the Netherlands in October 2008.
The statement said Ghana's embassy in the Netherlands was instructed to
secure the release and return to Ghana of the remains of the Ahanta king for a
befitting burial.
Accordingly, the Ghana Embassy negotiated with the Dutch authorities over
a period of 6 months and succeeded in obtaining the necessary consent and
approval for the transfer of the remains to Ghana
On Wednesday, July 22 2009, a 7-member delegation from the Ahanta
Traditional area led by Nana Etsin Kofi II, arrived in the Hague to formally take
possession of the remains of Nana Bonsu II.
GNA