Heritage caravan day 2: Crew visits Kumasi Military Museum

Day two of the second edition of the Citi FM Heritage Caravan begun in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.

The first tour of the day was at the Kumasi Military Museum. Patrons were taken through the history behind some of the Ashanti Wars.

The Kumasi Fort and Military Museum is one of few military museums in Africa. It is located in the Uaddara Barracks in Kumasi.

The Kumasi Fort was built in 1820 by the Asantehene (the King of the Asante Kingdom), Osei Tutu Kwamina, to resemble the coastal forts which were built by European merchants.

Kumasi Fort had to be rebuilt in 1897, after it was destroyed by British forces in 1874.

Patrons were taken on a tour of the over 5 museums that exhibits military equipment, artefacts and other objects used in the British-Asante war of 1990 and during the Second World War.

The collection includes weapons of war, colours, medals, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns, photographs and portraits.

This serves as a valuable historical institution for tracing the evolution and development of the Gold Coast Regiment of the colonial era, to the present-day Ghana Armed Forces.

There is a British Military Cemetery just about 200m northwest of the Kumasi Fort and Military Museum, which contains graves of British casualties of the Yaa Asantewaa War.

The next tour for patrons was the Komfo Anokye Sword site.It is believed that Okomfo Anokye's planted sword and every means to pull from the ground has failed.

As a symbol of the unification of the Ashanti Kingdom, Okomfo Anokye planted a sword and said if anyone removes the sword, then that marks the end of the Ashanti Empire.

Dating over three hundred years, the sword Anokye plunged into the earth, remains on the ground of a hospital named after him: Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

–
By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana