Ashanti king buried, focus on successor

10:33 a.m. Mar 26, 1999 Eastern

KUMASI, Ghana, March 26 (Reuters) - Ghana's late Ashanti king, one of Africa's most prominent traditional rulers, was buried in his capital Kumasi after a state funeral and four days of ceremonies blending African and Christian traditions, officials said.

Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, heir to the powerful pre-colonial Ashanti empire and ruler of Ghana's Ashanti people for 29 years, was laid to rest late on Thursday in the Royal Mausoleum after a day of ceremony aired live on state radio and television.

As life slowly return to normal in Kumasi on Friday, attention shifted to the nomination of a successor.

The Ashanti are a matrilineal society and the new king will be chosen by the Queen Mother, the paramount woman in the tribe, in consultation with fellow senior Ashanti women.

Sources close to the Ashanti people said the frontrunners to succeed him included Nana Kwaku Duah, son of the current Queen Mother, and Nana Akwasi Agyemang, the mayor of Kumasi.

Other likely candidates were brothers James and David Yeboah, a medical doctor and a surveyor, and Barima Osei Tutu.

The pre-colonial Ashanti empire drew its power from gold and held sway in the 18th and 19th centuries in an area of West Africa largely occupied today by Ghana.

Former colonial power Britain took more than 100 years to subdue the Ashanti armies but the Ashanti people remain an influential force in Ghana, which won independence in 1957.

Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, a London-trained lawyer aged 79, was the 18th Asantehene or king of the Ashantis. He died after a short illness on February 25.