Mamponghene marks 20th anniversary

The 20th anniversary celebration of the enstoolment of the Paramount Chief of the Asante-Mampong Traditional Area, Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, comes off next Saturday, September 24, 2016, at the forecourt of the Amaniampong Silver Palace at Asante-Mampong.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene and the occupant of the Golden Stool of Ashanti, will be the guest of honour.

There will be an interdenominational thanksgiving service on Sunday, September 25, 2016, at the same venue.

The occasion will bring people from all walks of life – especially Mampong citizens both home and abroad – to pay homage to their Omanhene whose 20-year reign has brought about peace and stability in the traditional area.

Daasebre Osei Bonsu was enstooled on August 25, 1996 when he succeeded his uncle, Nana Atakora Amaniampong II, who had abdicated.

Ascension to the silver stool

The Ascension of Daasebre Osei Bonsu to the Amaniampong Stool brought finality to the protracted chieftaincy litigation which had spanned almost two decades. The chieftaincy litigation brought about disaffection and intolerance which brought development to a halt.

His good working relationship and other qualities were the sum total that urged him to bring all the chiefs together to speak with one voice for the development of the area.

Daasebre’s accomplished and outstanding administrative prowess had manifested in his role as Chief of Mampong and Asanteman which had seen a lot of transformation and development.

There was successful burial of the Otumfuo Opoku Ware II and peaceful installation of a new king of Asanteman, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in April, 1999, which was seen as the shortest period of enstoolment process in the annals of the Asante Kingdom, under his watch as “Nwisiahene” of the Asante Kingdom.

On assumption of office as Mamponghene and Occupant of the Silver Stool, Daasebre has made his reign an era of uplift of traditional image and recognition of chieftaincy as an agent of development in the country.

This welcoming gesture has led to resuscitation of relevant but abandoned traditions and the elevation of chiefs (Adikrofo and Abrempong).

He has singled-handedly sponsored a large number of brilliant, needy children in the Mampong area in some tertiary institutions and senior high schools.

The first Aqua Privy toilet Mampong Gyaase constructed at Worakese, one of the suburbs of Mampong, was the initiative of Daasebre to demonstrate his concern about environmental cleanliness.

Daasebre has been collaborating with both present and former governments which have provided improved water systems in the area.

Traditional position

Daasebre is a member and permanent Vice-President, Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, Chairman of the Standing Committee, Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, Chairman of the Standing Committee of Asanteman Council, a member of the National House of Chiefs, a member of the Standing Committee of the National House of Chiefs, a member of the Judicial Committee of the National House of Chiefs and the Editor-in-Chief of the National House of Chiefs.

Before he was enstooled as Mamponghene, Daasebre was the Registrar of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

He started as assistant registrar in 1972 and by dint of hard work rose through the ranks and was appointed as registrar in 1991 till he retired in 2000.

He worked at the KNUST for 28 years.

Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, known in private life as Saint Oswald Gyimah-Kessie, was born on December 31, 1939. His mother was Teacher Mary Gyimah (one of the pioneer women educationists in the Gold Coast and pre-independence era) of the Botaase Bretuo Royal Family of Asante-Mampong.

With the untimely demise of his mother, Daasebre’s wife, Mrs Janet Dorothy Gyimah-Kessie, a devoted and God-fearing woman, stepped into her shoes. She is indeed the unsung backbone of Daasebre Osei Bonsu II.

The couple has one daughter, Dr Naana Mary Gyimah-Kessie, a medical practitioner working now as Principal Medical Officer at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Hospital (Trust Hospital), Accra.

Source: Graphic