Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II

Otumfuo Sir Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II was the 14th Asantehene, king of the Asante, from 22 June 1931 until his death on 27 May 1970. He won back recognition of the title of Asantehene from the British and gave the land on which the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology was built.

Early life

He was born around 1892 in Kumasi. In 1896, when he was four, the British captured his uncle, the Asantehene Prempeh I, together with his grandmother, the queen mother Nana Yaa Akyaa, and other royals, and exiled them to the Seychelles. Prempeh I was allowed home in 1924 and died in May 1931.

Restoring the Asantehene

He was chosen as Prempeh I's successor in 1931, but the colonial government recognised him only as Kumasihene, ruler of Kumasi. After years of pressure, in 1935 the British allowed him to take the title of Asantehene and the Asante Confederacy was restored.

Education and national role

In 1949 he helped found Prempeh College, the boys' boarding school in Kumasi. He gave a large tract of land for what became the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science in 1969. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In October 1969 he was elected the first President of the National House of Chiefs and was then appointed to the Council of State.

Death

He died on 27 May 1970 and was succeeded by his nephew, Opoku Ware II.