Techiman, Tano-Subin & Allegiance To Asante

Many Ghanaians, including those who patronize Ghanaweb, have made various statements since last week concerning the feud between Nana Techimanhene and that of asantehene. Indeed, some of the statements especially on this site, come from some individuals without affiliations with either Techiman or asante and for that matter, do not know the history and the remote causes underlying the conflict between these two traditional entities. Unfortunately, some contributors on this network have swallowed the one-sided story of the issue coming from asantes based on the recent and immediate causes of the conflict as it emanated from the alleged kidnapping ( arrest, adoption?) at Wenchi of the so-called Tuobodomhene at the hands of some citizens from Techiman whose action was informed by the assassination attempt on the Techimanhene alleged to have been instigated by Baffuor Asare of Tuobodom. The bias reportage coming from some ignorant writers on this platform has compelled me to give some historical background to this issue and to put it into its proper context and historical perspective.

WHY THE ASANTEHENE CLAIMS OWNERSHIP OF THE SEVEN VILLAGES IN DISPUTE

The villages in dispute were originally seven (7) but Agosa and Branam were later added by the British colonial powers for the purposes of indirect rule and to exert taxes and this spelt out the trouble between the Gold Coast government and the Techimans since 1935 till Ghana gained independence. The background of this conflict dates back to 1740 following the destruction of the Bono-Techiman Kingdom during the war with the asantes. After the destruction of the Bono-Techiman Kingdom, the then Nkoranzahene Baafo Pim was tasked to administer the place on behalf of asantes. It’s important to place on record that Baafo Pim was one of the three elders who had migrated from Amakom-Kumasi following a dispute with the then asantehene and had been given a piece of land by the Techimanhene to settle on. Ironically, it was through this same Baafo Pim that Techiman had its major war with the asantes due to the mischievous role he played by playing the two kingdoms-Techiman and asante, against each other (this subject will be another topic for discussion at another day).

Sixty years after the Baafo Pim had played Techiman against the asantes, a rebellion broke out in Nkoranza compelling the then asantehene Osei Bonsu Payin to ask the Techimans to quell that insurrection on behalf of the asantes as the two kingdoms were purported to have become friends at the time. Nana Techimanhene Kofi Kyereme (1782-1830) eagerly obliged because he had a vested interest in avenging Baafo Pim’s betrayal. Subsequently, the Techimanhene conquered the Nkoranzas and took the then Nkoranzahene Wiafe, the successor of Baafo Pim, prisoner. This was in-spite of protests from the asantehene. Wiafe was eventually sacrificed to the Techiman stool but this action had a disastrous repercussions for the Techimans, though not immediately, for the asantes were busily engaged in one of their numerous wars with the British-Fantes in the south and therefore did not have enough time to “punish” Nana Kofi Kyereme-the Techimanhene.

In 1818, the asante-Gyaaman (present day Drobo, Kwasibuorkrom, Japekrom, Gonasua and the Bondugu areas) out and the Techimans were begged by the asantes to support them since the Techimans knew the Gyaaman territories very well. The Techimans obliged and assisted the asantes with seven (7) powerful towns and priests renowned for their war powers with the gods of Tano and Ntoa which were the national deities of the Bono-Techiman Kingdom. The Techimans easily conquered the Gyaamans, leading to the asantehene osei Bonsu payin to express his appreciation to the Bonos. He followed this up with a victory parade in Kumasi and invited the Techimanhene Kofi Kyereme and his seven priests to participate in the celebrations in. In fact, the Techimahene and his elders participated in the celebrations with an open heart, thinking that their help for the asantes hand opened up a new chapter of good friendships between the two kingdoms. This however, proved wrong as the asantehene had another motive for immediately after the celebration and upon returning to the Bonoland, the asantehene sent his emissaries with his “ahenfie” police to inform the Techimanhene that from that time onward, the seven powerful priests and their respective villages –Buoyem, Tanoboase, Tuobodom, Tanoso, Subinso, Fuman and Nkyiraa, had been seized by the asantes.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the brute force by which Tuobodom is alleged to have became part of asante as this erases the wrong impression created by the asantes and their minnows that those villages came under asante as a result of wars!

As would be expected and we are continuously doing, the Techimans vehemently protested these moves by the asantes who had the backing from the British because of their vested interests in their indirect rule and tax drives. Subsequent Techiman chiefs, namely Owusu Akrofi (1830-7), Ameyaw Kyereme (1837-51) and Baafuor Twi (1851-64) who demanded the return of the villages were given evasive replies by the asantes.

Following this episode, a war broke out in 1877 between the asantes and the Juabens (Juabens were/are never asantes) and the asantehene Bonsu Mensah asked the Techimanhene Kwabena Fofie (1864-86) to help him with troops from Techiman but he refused and this resulted in a war between the asantes and the Bono-Techimans which lasted almost twenty years and ended in a victory for the Techimans. Even though the Techimans won this war, the Techiman-town itself was destroyed in course of the war and the Techiman government thereupon moved to the Kingdom of Gyaaman in order to engage in a guerrilla war with the asantes from the Gyaaman Kingdom. Techiman guerrilla forces were led by chief Yeboah of Tanoso and was charged to harass the asantes. Nana Yeboah operated mainly from the Botin mountains and caves (where the name Boaten originated from) at the outskirts of Techiman, with arms being supplied from Gyaaman. In course of this war, the asantes made several overtures to make peace with the Bonos and to end the war because the Bono “country” was now useless to the asantes since no taxes were coming from Techiman because all cash crops had been burnt and trading had come to a standstill.

ASANTEHENE PROMISED TO RETURN THE SEVEN VILLAGES TO TECHIMAN

A war broke out between the asantes and the Brits in 1895 and the asantehene Prempeh l, unable to fight two wars, one with the Bonos in the north and the other with the Brits in the south, offered to make peace with the Techimans, asking them to return from their sojourn in Gyaaman and promising to relinquish the seven towns in dispute to the Bonos. Following this overture by the asantes, the then Techimanhene Nana Gyaako ll (1886-99) asked for an official delegation to be sent to him in Gyaaman and the asantehene obliged but when asantehene’s delegation returned from Gyaaman to Kumasi, the Anglo-asante war was over and Prempeh l was a prisoner to the Brits. He was exiled to in January 1896 to the Seychelles Island and there was no king to succeed him.

Techimanhene Gyaako heard of this event and decided to seize the opportunity to assert his independence once and for all from the asantes. He therefore sent a delegation led by Kwabena Fofie and other representatives from the Gyaamanhene to Accra to consult with the British governor. The mission of the visit was to inform the governor that the Techimans were living in exile and therefore wanted to return to their land. The governor referred them to the British representative in Kumasi and it was agreed that the Bonos can return to their land without any conditions and that the seven towns in dispute should be returned to them. The Techiman township was subsequently rebuilt close to the ruins of the old town, in 1897.

The peace that the Techimans were to enjoy was short-lived as the asantehene Prempeh l was allowed to return from exile in 1925 and was allowed to rule again. He died in 1931 and was succeeded by Osei Agyeman Prempeh ll when the British decided to restore the old asante confederacy of states, meaning that the British had to place Techiman once again under the asante, for the purposes of indirect rule and taxation and as expected, the Bonos vehemently protested and refused to be part of asante.

In November 1935, the Committee of Privileges of the asante confederacy took place in Kumasi and like other head of states, the Techimanhene Kwasi Twi, accompanied by a number of his elders and chiefs went to Kumasi. At that meeting, asantehene Prempeh l made it known that the seven villages had once again been seized and restored to asante . Indeed, Nana Techimahene Kwasi Twi protested to the Gold Coast Government but in vain, even though the Techimanhene referred the government to the Queen’s Treaty of 1897 with the Techimans where the queen promised to protect the Bonos from the asantes and to restore the seven villages to them. Techimahene therefore took matters into his hands by boycotting subsequent meetings in Kumasi and this led to his overthrow by the British commissioner at Wenkyi (Wenchi) which had administrative oversight in the area. His successors Akumfi Ameyaw ll (1936-7), Brempon Kwaku Kyereme (1937-41) and Kwaku Gyaako (1941-3) were also dethroned by the British commissioner at Wenchi when they also refused to be part of the asante confederacy.

When the Techimans fled to Gyaaman following the war that broke out with the asantes, thousands of the its citizens scattered all over the British colony; some settled in Mankesim, Anomabu, Ekumfi (remember the Ekumfi-Akumfi royal name of the Techimans), etc. This made the Bono kingdom denuded and the Bono-Techiman "intellgentsia" - the craftsmen, goldsmiths, weavers, carvers, the musicians, the organizers of the great Techiman market which was visited annually by caravans from North Africa-were sent as captives to Kumasi to teach the asante king and his court the civilized ways of life.

Techiman was left with nothing and the asante consuls stationed in the defunct kingdom made recovery impossible and these consuls are the offsprings of Baafuor Asare who claim to be royals of Tuobodom. Their original role for which they were brought to Techiman from Kumasi was to ensure that taxes and royalties were paid to asantehene.