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. =)