The history that has been passed down for many generations has been that the Asantes and the Ewes have always had bad blood between them. But in recent stories, that narrative has gradually been corrected.
In one of these videos, the Agbotadua of Anlo, Agbotadua Kumassah, shared the story of how there has been a long history of marriage between the two ethnic groups.
According to him, in 1865, there was also an alliance between the Asantes, the Akwamus, and the Anlos that saw to it that the three groups worked together against their common enemies.
The Agbotadua of Anlo explained, in an interview with Opemsuo TV but shared on Facebook by The Asante Nation, that the initiative was led by the Asante king, Nana Kwaku Dua I, the eighth Asantehene.
He added that, as part of their agreement, the Asantes and the Anlos agreed to each set up towns in their communities replicating the names of the other’s towns.
“Kwaku Dua I came, and he came with the Akwamuhene, and they signed, in Anloga here, a tripartite alliance. You know the Ashantis have no coastline: they tried the Fantes, but they refused to give them contact with the Europeans, they tried the Gas; they refused; and they knew we have a coast, so they came to the Anlos, and we embraced them.
“So, in 1865, they signed a treaty called the Tripartite Alliance, and Kwaku Dua represented the Ashantis. He gave the sword of honour to the Awadada at that time, Ahorlu. Another condition they entered was that because they don’t want to fight one another, there should be Anloga, as a town, established in Kumasi, and Kumasi established in Anloga
“So, if you go to Anloga now, there is a place called Kumasi, but the people refused to come and settle there, but we went to settle in Kumasi,” he said.
Agbotadua Kumassah also narrated how a sister of one of the Asantehenes, called Ama Serwaa, found herself at Anloga and eventually got married to the fetish priestess there.
“And then there was one sister of one of the Ashanti kings called Ama Serwaa: Ama Serwaa was put in a shrine here and the fetish priest married her. So, there are descendants here,” he stated.
Recently, the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, made a historic journey to Anloga during the celebration of the Hogbetsotso Za.
Watch the interview of the Agbotadua of Anlo below:
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The historic meeting between the Asantehene and the Awodada of Anlo