“I Shall Die in Exile”: The Story of Nana Kwesi Seniagya and the Desecration of the Golden Stool

He was banished to Nigeria in 1921 for desecrating the Ashanti Golden Stool. Here is the story of Nana Kwesi Seniagya, who later decided to d!e in Nigeria.

Below is the story of Nana (some call him Opanin Kwesi Seniagya) who “str!pped the soul of Asante nãked:

The Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi) is the royal and divine throne of kings of the Asante people and the ultimate symbol of power in Asante. According to legend it descended from the sky onto the lap of Osei Tutu and houses the soul of the Asante nation – living, dæd and yet to be born.

It was so precious to the people that after the British demanded the Stool in 1900, Asante went to wãr under Yaa Asantewaa. The British won the war but never found the stool. The people hid it deep in the forest.

In 1921, a group of road workers building the Obuasi road found it by acc!dent. Instead of reporting it, Seniagya and his friends – Danso, Yankyira, Yogo and a goldsmith called Kujo-Roku – stripped the Stool of its gold ornaments and bells to sell.

For Asante, this was the highest sacrilege in history. The nation went into møurning. The Stool that they had gone to wãr to protect had been dēsecrated, not by the British, but by their own people.

Asante custom demanded dæth penalty. The British colonial officers had to put the men in protective custody and later ban!shed them instead, but with a promise never to interfere with the Stool again.

The Stool had to be purified with great sacrifices before it could be brought out. It was finally used again in 1935 to crown Prempeh II.

That’s why historians call it “Stripping the Soul of Asante Naked.” Seniagya’s name became a lesson: some things are bigger than gold.

In 1957 (that was 36 years after he was banished), Ghana (formerly Gold Coast), gained its independence. The new government withdrew the banishment order, but Seniagya preferred to stay in Nigeria which was now a home. “I am too old to start a new life. I shall d!e in ex!le,” he told journalists.