Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II

The immediate-past King of Okyeman (OKYEHENE), Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II, was a member of the Prempeh College Class of '61. A Physician by profession, he was also the President of the National House of Chiefs, and ipso facto, a member of the Council of State. Dr. Alex Fredua Agyemang died at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra at dawn on Wednesday, March 17, 1999 having been suddenly taken ill the previous evening.

The late Okyenhene was born on February 22, 1942, at Asiakwa and installed on August 2, 1976 as the 34th occupant of the Ofori Panin Stool at the age of 34. He succeeded his uncle, Nana Ofori Atta III.

He was educated at Prempeh College (1957-61) and Accra Academy (1961-62), before proceeding to the Sofia State University Medical School in Bulgaria to study medicine. On his return in 1969, Dr. Fredua Agyeman worked at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and later at the Ridge hospital until his enstoolment. Osagyefo Kuntunkununku served two-terms as President of the Eastern regional house of chiefs (1994-98), before his election as national president in December 1998 and becoming a member of the Council of State.

He singled out his election as President of the National House of Chiefs as one event that he will never forget and always cherish. According to him his "foot soldier serene" did all and was very sure that he would win.

However, he stated in an interview that, on the polling day, tension went very high when his agent cum polling assistant who knew the results did not show any sign of victory or failure, and that made him almost get a heart attack.

Later, it was explained that the results had been so close that it shocked his agent hence his impassive mien. Our dead king, Kuntunkununku, was the 34th to sit on the Akyem stool. His name was made for the talking drums. It was also the name of the very first Akyem king, King Kuntunkununku I (1400 AD).

Agyemang was trained in Sofia and Prague as a doctor and was one of a new breed of professionals who were eagerly accepted to become the occupants of important stools (thrones) when they were elected by their king-makers.

It was a miracle that he completed his course as a doctor, for while he was in Bulgaria, he and a group of African students were set upon by racist Bulgarian students who did not look favourably on the way Bulgarian girls were flocking around the Africans in a night club called Chuchuluga. Alex was repatriated to Ghana, sporting a bandage on his head. But he wasn't put off by Eastern Europe and went on to Prague to qualify. He practised for six years before being elected to succeed his maternal uncle, Nana Ofori Atta III, on August 2 1976.

A former medical officer at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, Kuntunkununku elevated a number of "adikros' to chief status with palanquins. During his reign, Kuntukununku undertook a tour of all towns in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area which was described as very successful. But it was his desire and effort to have the Kibi bauxite deposits exploited to provide employment to the people that will be remembered. It is hoped that his successor will continue in his effort to attract investors for the project.

He continued to practise after his enstoolment (though he dropped the title of Doctor, as being unsuitable to his position), and was able to make a start on the modernisation of the government hospital at Kyebi.

Devoted to public work, the Okyenhene sat on Land and Forestry Commissions (one of his ancient titles was Kwaebibiremhene, or King of the Forest). An attempt by the son of Nana Sir Ofiri Atta to de-stool him in the 1980s only proved his popularity.

The Okyenhene was president of the Ghana Ethos-Medical Foundation, and a trustee of the Ghana Society for the Blind. He was also a member of the Consultative Assembly which in 1992 drew up a new constitution for Ghana. Such was his reputation that he was elected to two consecutive three-year terms as President of the East Regional House of Chiefs, and from 1998 as President of the National House of Chiefs, numbering more than 5,000 in all. He was also a member of the Council of State.

Yet he remained every inch an African king in his ability to carry off ceremonial grandeur. When he visited London he would don cloths of the costliest silk, and deck himself with gold ornaments - accoutrements which were set off by his superb dignity and grace.

Kuntukununku was destined to rule. According to an elder at Asiakwa, the Okyehene, Sir Ofori Atta I, saw a handsome young policeman at Asiakwa as he drove through the town.

He stopped and told him he would give him one of his sisters in marriage so they would give birth to a son who would one day occupy the Ofori Panin Palace. That youngman was Okonpa, Kuntukununku's father.

Kuntunkununku was delightfully literate. In 1991 he wrote a forward to the brochure of a major Akyem Festival, Odwira, in which he said: "One of the surest ways to undermine a people's self-esteem and enslave their minds is to alienate them from their own culture. European imperialism understood this too well. We must therefore hold on doggedly to our cultural heritage, to avoid becoming caricatures of other nations."

The death of Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II has robbed Ghana of one of her most distinguished sons who devoted his life to the service of his nation and people.

King Osagyefuo Kuntunkununku II was married with six children. His successor will be nominated within 40 days of his burial. The most likely candidates are thought to be his nephews: Nana Atta Akeah, a lawyer in Accra; and Nana Kwame Boakye, an American insurance broker. May he rest in heavenly peace!!