Our Queen in the Struggle..Yaa Asantewaa Yaa Asantewaa was born - TopicsExpress



          

Our Queen in the Struggle..Yaa Asantewaa Yaa Asantewaa was born in 1840. She was famous for leading the Ashanti rebellion against British colonialism. She was the sister of the Ruler of Ejisu (Ejisuhene) an ethnic group in present day Ghana. Africa has been blessed with numerous women of great courage. These include Queen Idia of Benin, Queen Amina of Zaria and a host of other brave women leaders. Nana Asantewaa was the most prominent of the lot. Her accomplishments may not have been as great as Queen Amina of Zaria in terms of span of leadership, but her standing up to fight the British occupation in West Africa in spite of an initially cowardly front put up by Ghanaian men puts her at the top of Africa’s great female leaders. Asantewaa was appointed queen mother by her brother. Her brother, Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase’s reign was marked with ups and down. Akwasi died after the Asante civil war in 1883-1888. After his death, Yaa Asantewaa, being very influential as queen mother, used her influence to nominate her grandson as Ruler of Ejisu. In 1896, her Grandson as well as the King of the Ashante (Prempeh I) were exiled to Seychelles by the British. This was Britain’s way of dealing with African kings in the past as was the case with the Benin Kingdom with the capture and exile of Oba Ovonramwen (King of Benin) in 1897. Sending a king to exile in such times was followed by looting of their land. This has lead to the discoveries of lots of Africa’s valued arts and crafts in Britain. Till date Africa has been unable to regain its stolen treasures. As expected, to further heightened matters, the British Governor-General of Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast) Frederick Hodgson, demanded the Golden Stool of the Ashante. The Golden stool was the symbol of the Asante nation. This prompted a conference of the elders. Yaa Asantewaa was highly disgusted at the behaviour of her mail counterparts and insisted that if the men would not fight, she would gather the women to fight for the land. The British Royalty was not as old as numerous African Royalty and even though more powerful at the time, was still of inferior quality. Yaa Asantewaa led the famous Uprising in 1900 against the British. She was captured and sent on exile to the Seychelles. Yaa Asantewa died in Exil on the 17th of October 1971. Yaa Asantewas War was the last major war led by an African woman. She is honoured in Africa till this very day. Her body was later returned to Ghaana were she was giving a befitting burial. She is honoured with a school named after her, the Yaa Asantewaa Girl’s Secondary School. Something about Yaa Asantewaa when her name is called during Libations feels so strong. Ashe Her fight against British colonialists is a story is woven throughout the history of Ghana. A story from Ghana , A History for Primary Schools, E.A. Addy; In the evening the chiefs held a secret meeting at Kumasi. Yaa Asantewaa the Queen Mother of Ejisu, was at the meeting. The chiefs were discussing how they should make war on the white men and force them to bring back the Asantehene. Yaa Asantewaa saw that some of the chiefs were afraid. Some said that there should be no war. They should rather go to beg the Governor to bring back the Asantehene King(Nana) Prempeh. Then suddenly Yaa Asantewaa stood up and spoke. This was what she said: Now I have seen that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it were in the brave days of, the days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see thier king taken away without firing a shot. No white man could have dared to speak to chief of the Ashanti in the way the Governor spoke to you chiefs this morning. Is it true that the bravery of the Ashanti is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you the men of Ashanti will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields. This speech stirred up the men who took an other to fight the white men until they released the Asantehene. For months the Ashantis led by Yaa Asantewaa fought very bravely and kept the white men in the fort. Yet British reinforcements totaling 1,400 soldiers arrived at Kumasi. Yaa Asantewa and other leaders were captured and sent into exile. Yaa Asantewaas war was the last of the major war in Africa led by a women.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:33:50 +0000

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