A day in the King’s court

Outside of Manhyia Palace

Thursday is the day when the Ashanti King sits in court, so I decided to stay in Kumasi for an extra day to get a good look at the king himself. Ashanti King is the second most powerful chief in Africa, only behind the Zulu King in South Africa. The current king is Otumfo Osei-Tutu II, 50 years old, have two wives and been the king for over 10 years. He was educated in London and lived in US when he was called back to became the king. [Doesn’t that reminds you of Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America?]

 

2 Cedi to rent a chair or you can stand for free

I arrived at the Manhyia Palace around 11AM, being the only Asian guy with a camera in the crowd, I was spotted by an old guy who claim to be a servant to the king. He told me that I can’t take any pictures of the king, but he can make my problem go away because he is a senior servant to the king, and he wants 60 Cedi, I negotiate it down to 20 and was thinking I might be scammed. But later when the king arrived, I started taking pictures and the security came over and told me to shut my camera off.  The old guy waved him away and told me to continue, I guess the 20 Cedi was well worth it. 

The way he  (The brown shirt guy)tugged the shirt in is different from others, he is part of the king's servants.

You don't mess around with security here. The king gets more protection than the president.

The court supposes starts at noon, but of course, the king was fashionably late. In the meantime, all the local chiefs and local kings showed up in style, you can spot them by their umbrella carried by their servant.

The local chiefs and kings

I met this local chief after the court session,  I'm not allowed to take a picture with him, only a handshake

The King finally showed up around 1PM (I think he was playing Grand Theft Auto and was stuck on level 23, j/k), the court is in session, but they are speaking in their local language and I didn’t understand one bit. The gentleman next to me was kind enough explain the process to me. Both the defendant and prosecutor speak through an Interpreter (similar to a lawyer)who speaks to the King directly, I can only hear the Interpreter talking on the microphone.  The defendant, prosecutor and the king weren’t miced up, so I can’t hear anything. Apparently, the lawyer was very funny because the crowd laughed few times. 

The golden rod symbolize the protection of the god

The king finally arrived

The court is in session, I can't see the king or hear him, only the interpreter

The court session took about 2 hours.  I think the king heard 4 or 5 cases. As the king exited, the crowded took the opportunity to talk to him and show their respects (you can’t shake hand or touch him). I took the opportunity taken some close up pictures of him. 

Ashanti King, Otumfo Osei-Tutu II

This is the closest I have ever been to a king.  I just know that he will bring me some good fortunes. =)

Kumasi, home of the Ashanti Kingdom

Porcupine, symbol of Ashanti soliders

Kumasi is about 6 hour bus ride from Accra. I'm staying at a hostel that was referred by Aunty from Crystal Hostel. It was ran by a lovely woman, the hostel is bit far from the central city, so I end up taking  taxi everyday from her place to the city. Kumasi is the only city I stayed in Ghana that rained every night, not drizzling, but downright pouring and that is why Kumasi is a very green city compare to other cities in Ghana. The hostel owner's daughter visited her one night, I get to chat with her, she is in trading business so she visit China every 6 month, she is the one that told me about the Togo port vs. Ghana port, very interesting lady.  

My room in Kumasi, about 8 Cedi a night

Look how green Kumasi is

My and my "housemate"

Kumasi is known for few tourist attractions


1)Kumasi Culture Center
2)Ashanti sword
3)Manhyia Palace Museum
4)Anhyia Palace (Where the king holds his court every Thursday, I will talk about it separately)


***Another attraction is Kumasi zoo, but  I heard from others that the place is depressing so I didn't go


1) Kumasi Culture Center: This culture center isn't as interesting as the National Culture center in Accra, since I already toured NCC in Accra, I didn't feel like spending the money, so I just walked around, the center has very nice scenery, but there aren't too many interesting things to see IMHO

Lizards!

Statue of Osei Ayeman Prempeh II

2) Ashanti sword: The sword that symbolizes the Ashanti unity, if  pulled out the ground, the unity ends. No one has pulled it out for 300 yrs, including bulldozers that were used to build the hospital around it. It is pretty cool to visit, the tour guide, Michael, is very friendly, worth the 3 Cedi I paid.

The sword

Ooopps, I accidentally pulled out the sword, but I put it back for the sake of Ashanti unity. =D

3) Manhyia Palace Museum: The museum is right next to Anhyia Palace, the price is 10 cedi, you can get an English tour guide and learn about the history of Ashanti people, function of the palace, artworks and artifacts. Unfortunately, no picture is allowed in the museum, but highly recommended place to visit. Just be aware of the people trying to sell you artworks near the museum, have thick skin and say no to them.

Royal Symbols

This symbols means only god can judge me

The only picture I sneaked inside the museum

Walking around the palace, I stopped to watch a lady making some kind of street food, she asked me if I wanted some, of course I said. =D

Yummy!

Now we are on the topic of food, the hostel host offered me 3 Cedi a day if I wanted her to make dinner for me. Home cooking Ghanaian food? How can I say no???

Yam, fried Plantain, beef/cabbage/sardine

Fried rice

Sardine salad and plantain, not my favorite dish

Fish, pepper sauce, bean sauce, onion and Kenkey (corn banku)

Fried Plantain and beef stew

Interesting notes:


1) On eating etiquette, when I was in Turkey/Greece, the restaurant owner was offended when I didn't finish my food. He took it that I didn't enjoy the food. So on this trip, I made an effort to finish all food that was offered to me.  So on the first day, I cleaned my plate, the host asked me if it was enough, I said yes and that was the truth. The next day, the portion increased a bit more, I stuffed it down and went to bed with a round belly. Third day, the food came in two plates, enough is enough, I couldn't finish it. On the fourth day, the food portion decreased a bit. Well, turns out in Ghana, you have to leave a little food behind to show the host that you are full. When you finished the plate, it means that you didn't get enough food to eat.

2) My nail have grown so long by this point that it started to bug me, so I been looking for a nail clipper but no place sales it.  I end up at a hair salon getting my nails clipped, first time in my life.

3) I spend a lot of hours in the Internet cafe to upload my travel picture to Facebook, a teenager boy, no more than 14 or 15 years old, was watching hardcore porn right next to me, no one stopped him, weird. 

4) Stumbled into a church service, watch the video, very interesting.

Happy 54th Independence Day Ghana!

Morning Ghana!

I was super excited when Solomon told me March 6th is Ghana's Independence day, he told me to show up early because you can’t find a seat if you showed up late. So I got up at 4:45AM and arrived at Independent Square or Black Square at 5AM. Guess what? The only people and things here are me, workers and the roosters behind the stadium. I found out later that the current government isn’t so popular, so less people showed up.  I guess I should've done a popularity poll.

Rooster and I are enjoying a quiet morning

Around 6:30AM, people are trickling in and workers are setting up the square. Around 7AM, dancer and guests are showing up, you really should see the dresses and outfits, they are spectacular! Loved every one of them! 

Kpalogo dancer

More Kpalogo dancer

This by far, is my favored outfit

Vendors

Starting around 8:30, the military (all cadets, not soldiers) and school students marched in. I was told this is the first year that the ceremony only used cadets instead of soldiers because the government wants to separate itself from the military.

9:30am, the president showed up in his limo, we sang the national anthem (well, I tried) and the president gave his speech. By 10 am and it is getting very hot even for me in the shades, the students are fainting left and right, started with the elementary students, then the high school students and later, military cadets are fainting as well, you can see the paramedic running back and forth carrying kids and cadets out of the square, it felt like a war reenactment. 

Tribal dancers took stage, being so far away from the center stage, I can barely see anything. To everyone's amusement, I started giggling when I saw a group of kids doing Tae Kwon Do, I just found it  amusingto see Tae Kwon Do performed by Ghanaians in Ghana, don’t ask me why. =D

The Tae Kwon Do kids...=D

Finally, the ceremony is ending and the cadets and students are now parading to the president, very cool to see all the uniforms. 

Special need kids, very good group, soldiered through the ceremony

Showing my Ghana pride

Ceremony ended around noon, I took a quick tour of the square. Students are dancing in the square (check out the video below) and again, I was asked to take pictures with few guests and I was more than happy to comply. Another exciting day in Accra!

 

The Black Star.