The Asantehene

In Africa, apart from the civilized world of having a president as a leader, there is also the traditional world where the society is ruled by monarchs or royals. In the country of Ghana in West Africa, there is the popularly known Ashanti Kingdom, and this kingdom covers the whole of the Ashanti Region and another region known as the Brong Ahafo region out of the ten regions or states in Ghana. The Ashanti region is the largest region in Ghana. It has subdivided cities that are ruled by sub chiefs or kings. But the whole region is overall ruled by the greatest king known as the Asantehene. The Asantehene is considered the ruler of the Ashanti people. While this modern day the Asantehene is regarded as a ceremonial role, the role was viewed as a power leader of the Ashanti Empire in the olden days of the history of the Ashantis. Every Asantehene is crowned on a golden stool (also known in the Ashanti Language as sika dwa. The golden stool is regarded by the Ashanti people the container of all the souls of the Ashanti people. It is the golden stool that determines who should be the ruler of its kingdom. There are roles of the Asantehene as a leader of the Ashanti kingdom. One of the roles of the Asantehene is to be a caretaker of the kingdom and everything in it. He takes care of the royal land properties; he owns the Gold mines which are located in the Ashanti region as a source of business profit for the kingdom. He is also the caretaker of the properties of the royal family, the ancestors and the palace. The Asantehene also is seen as the voice of his kingdom. He delivers messages to his people about, information, alerts, and health issues, problems that affect the kingdom and every society in it and what needs to be done to solve the problems. He also helps to settle disputes or conflicts between leaders among the kingdom and makes sure that there is peace since the Ashantis believe that united they stand and divided they fall. He also acts as a communicating vessel between the Ashanti people and the ancestral world. He gets vision and revelations from the ancestors and then passes on the vision to the Ashanti people. In times of war, the Asantehene is responsible to lead his people in times of war.