OFORI KUMA II

Nana Ofori Kuma II (June 13, 1879 -June 17, 1954), or Bernard Ofosu Apea Koranteng, was the first barrister to become an Omanhane (paramount chief) in the Gold Coast, he ruled as Okuapemhene (paramount chief) of Akuapem, a state 30 mi, or 48 km, northeast of Accra, from 1914-19, and from 1932-41. Although initially an innovator, he was twice obliged to relinquish the stool because of his methods of conducting state affairs.

PHOTO CAPTION: Nana Ofori Kuma II. SOURCE: marymartin.com

He was the son of the Rev. Simeon Koranteng, a pastor of the Basel Mission, and of his wife Aka Oye, of the royal Asona clan of Akuropon, capital of Akuapem. He was educated at the Basel Mission schools at Akuropon, after which he went to Cape Coast, where he practised as a surveyor for some years.

He was interested in the succession disputes to the paramount stool of Akuapem, and pressed the claims of his brother, Charles Owusu Ansa, to the Okuapemhene’s stool, when the incumbent, Nana Kwasi Akuffo, was served with destoolment charges in 1907. He conducted the proceedings against the chief and showed such rhetorical and legal skills that Akuffo lost his stool.

After Owusu Ansa’s installation as Okuapemhene in 1907, he went to England to study law. He fell seriously ill, however, and had to stop his studies. Litigation in Akuapem, and a rebellion which aimed at destooling Owusu Ansa, led his return home to help his brother maintain his stool and restore peace. Having achieved his aim, he returned to England to continue his law studies. He was called to the Bar in 1913, returning home the same year. He set up a private practise, and within a short time made a name as a lawyer. He also advised his brother to make reforms in the state’s administration and also acted as a mediator in a dispute between a company building a road in Akuapem, and the Gold Coast government.

Up   on the death of Nana Owusu Ansa, on May 8, 1914, problems of succession arose. Ofosu Apea’s family wanted him to succeed his brother, but he wished to continue the practice of law, although he did not renounce his claims to the stool. The Kwasi Akuffo faction, on the other hand, opposed his installation, and the illiterate section of the population did not want an educated man as chief. He proposed various alternatives, including the appointment of a regency council under the queen-mother, and the installation of his nephew, Lawrence Ofei Aware. After his nephew died of typhus, however, he was obliged to give up his law practice and become Okuapemhene.

He was installed on May 23, 1914, with the stool name of Ofori Kuma II, and performed all the customary rites, most of which he did not like. He decided afterward to have the blessing of the Christian church, and this was given to him by the Basel Mission.

He began his reign with certain changes. He decreed that court should be held on Thursdays in the future, even though it was a sacred day to the town god, Ntoa, and the change was opposed by Kwaku Fenko, the priest of Ntoa. He also decreed that spitting should be forbidden in the law court, and forbade the slaughter of sheep on the holy stone in his courtyard, because it was unhygienic: instead, he ruled that the sheep should be slaughtered outside, and only a drop of blood put on the stone. This compromise was accepted and is still the practise today.

He decided to wear European dress, instead of always appearing in African attire, and in consequence became unpopular with the illiterate section of the community. He walked alone, without an attendant, which was contrary to custom since he regarded attendants as spies. He also, contrary to custom, did not marry his brother’s wives, but freed them and made them leave his palace. He introduced new laws for Akuapem and proposed an indirect income tax to raise revenue for road construction.

Although he was interested in reforms, he spent too much time and money on litigation. In October 1914, before his formal recognition as Okuapemhene by the British in February 1915, he petitioned Governor Sir Hugh Clifford (term of office 1912-19) on the subject of “The Treatment of Native Kings by District Commissioners.” He so resented British political officers that he refused to have a district commissioner’s court held in Akuropon, but instead allowed it to be established nearby, in Mampon-Akuapem.

He also refused to have a government police station but instead retained the native authority police – a situation that was to continue until 1974 when police stations were finally established in Akuropon. His innovations led to opposition from the Nifahene and the Benkumhene (the respective chiefs of the left wing and the right wing of the army), who complained of his breaches of customs. As a result, in July 1915 the government set up a commission of enquiry, which subsequently published the Crowther Report in October.

The main complaints against him were that he had: (1) created two extra offices of Adontehene (chief of the center division of the state); (2) elevated “a low-class of person” to chiefly offices; (3) misused state oaths; (4) passed the unpopular “chemise law,” which required women to wear blouses (“kabas”) to cover their breasts; (5) claimed stool land as his own; and (6) had extensive private commercial interests in the cocoa industry, and had chartered ships for carrying cocoa to Britain during the war, thus cheating the farmers. Although some of the allegations of bribery and corruption were proven, he was not destooled.

The quarrel with the divisional chiefs nevertheless continued. The Nifahene was suspended from office for two years for plotting to secede. But other influential officials, together with Nana Kwasi Akuffo, met in Aburi, about 10 mi (16 km) to the south, in November 1918, and declared Nana Ofori Kuma II destooled.

The government then appointed another commission, headed by a Mr. Ross, in 1919 to enquire into new charges against the Okuapemhene. He was accused of not having accounted for road dues or for the Imperial War Fund contributions; of using stool money to send his nephew, Dako Awere, to England to study law; of accepting bribes; wearing European dress; “divorcing” stool wives; and keeping the royal stool under his verandah.

Although the malcontents did not have the support of all the wing chiefs, Ofori Kuma II felt that his position was untenable. He therefore abdicated in May 1919. One of his unpardonable misdeeds as Okuapemhene was his destruction of the palace which Nana Kwasi Akuffo had built.

He was succeeded by Nana Kwasi Akuffo, who was now re-enstooled, but he continued to litigate and create problems for his successor until Akuffo died in 1927. Meanwhile, he was sued for the recovery of £17,000 of stool property that he was alleged to have appropriated, although in fact it had been mortgaged to certain chiefs in Accra.

After an interregnum, he was reinstated as Okuapemhene in 1932. After his reinstatement, he did not carry out any development projects in Akuapem, and did not improve the capital, Akuropon in any way. Although he had the ability and training for service as a legislator, he did not play any part in national politics. He spent his time in litigation, incurring debts, and acquiring more wives. He neglected his children, whose education was left to their mothers.

Eventually, allegations of bribery, extortion, and injustices towards litigants in his court, as well as his mode of life in general, led to his destoolment in 1941. He went into exile in Koforidua, 40 mi (64 km) north of Accra, and resumed his legal practise, and kept out of Akuapem state politics when his nephew, Dako Awere, succeeded him as Nana Kwadade II in 1942. He died in 1954.

L.H. OFOSU-APPIAH