GSC NOTES AND QUERIES

A NOTE ON DWABENHENE KOFI AKRASI

By Ivor Wilks
Emeritus, Northwestern University

The chronology of the Asante kings is by now reasonably well established, but not that of the amanhene of the powerful divisions surrounding the capital. This brief note suggests a death date for the Dwabenhene Kofi Akrasi.

In early November 1749, Factor Brummer in Dutch Accra was expecting a large "passage" of Asante traders to arrive on the coast. It did not arrive at the anticipated time. In mid-February 1750 the factor reported that the passage had been delayed as a result of the closure of the roads by "the Akim Caboceer, Pobbi," that is, the Okyenhene Pobi Asumanin of Akyem Abuakwa. Over the next few weeks Brummer received confused and conflicting reports about affairs in the interior. On 10 April he informed his superiors in Elmina that no Asantes had reached Accra for a month. The Akyem Abuakwa road remained closed, but so too was the longer road through the "Krepi" country, that is, the way that passed over the Afram plains and thence along the Volta river through Akwamu. The passage of Asante traders lay in Kwawu, ready to cross the Volta on its way to the coast as soon as those in charge felt secure from attack by the "Krepis and Akims." By early May the passage had still not arrived, but Brummer had received news of the death of Asantehene Opoku Ware, and of the consequent struggle for power between Kusi Obodum and Dako. By the end of the month Brummer knew that Kusi Obodum had been made king, and was informed - or misinformed, it seems - that the passage of traders had arrived in Akwamu. Throughout the middle months of 1750 Brummer remained in suspense, for a large passage of traders required that he maintain a considerable stocks of muskets, knives, cloth and other goods, yet he could not afford to overstock his warehouse unless sure of its arrival. It was not until 3 September that Brummer finally acquired a clear picture of the situation, and it was not to his liking. The passage belonged to "Caboceer Akrasse," who died before it had been long on the road. Its members abandoned their mission not only because of the death, but also on account of the hostility of the Akyem.

This account is based upon Brummer's reports from 10 November 1749 to 3 September 1750 sent to the Director-General in Elmina. They are preserved in the General State Archives, The Hague, Archief van de Nederlandsche Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea [NBKG 110-111]. On 7 September Van Voorst in Elmina acknowledged Brummer's report of the 3rd, and pointed out that he had himself received news of the death of "Caboceer Akrasse" a month earlier. We may be reasonably confident that "Caboceer Akrasse" is the Dwabenhene Akrasi, well remembered in Asante tradition as Kofi Akrasi and sometimes Akrasi Dente. On occasion, so Dr. Adu Boahen informs me, the abrafo of Dwaben memorialize Akrasi for his campaigns to the northeast in which Subiri of Bassa was defeated, and the Dente shrine at Krakye brought under Dwaben jurisdiction. More to the point, there are traditions that provide a context for Akrasi's death. Asantehene Opoku Ware authorized Dwabenhene Akrasi Kofi to collect tributes imposed on the Akyem Abuakwa and Akyem Kotoko. He met with resistance, and in dealing with it was shot by the Kotoko at the Kwadutwum river. He died of his wounds [Institute of African Studies, Legon: KAG/7, interview, Kwabena Ameyaw with Nana Frempon Manso III, 18 Jan. 1966]. Kwadutwum became, and remains, the Great Oath of Dwaben. Kofi Akrasi's successor is remembered as Akuamoa Panin [see, e.g. R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, 1929, 172) and, appropriately, appears as "Quamboa" in Dutch reports of 1767 [NBKG 301]. It follows, then, that my earlier attempt to locate Dwabenhene Akrasi in the 1760s is in error [Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century, 1975, 115 and 320 n. 200].