Safo Kantankan: The Mamponghene who married 3 queen mothers and fathered 4 Asante kings
The Asanteman, which is made up of about 36 paramountcies, has had its rulers coming from the Kumasi paramountcy since its creation in the 1670s.
In other words, all the 19 kings of Asanteman have been Kumasimanhenes. As such, one would expect all the Asantehenes to have their parents coming from the Kumasi paramountcy.
However, history has it that four of the Asantehenes had their fathers not from the Kumasi paramountcy.
According to historian and lawyer, Nana Obiri Yeboah, Safo Kantankan, a Paramount Chief of Mampong (Mamponghene), married a queen mother of the Kumasi Traditional Area and fathered four Asantehenes with her.
“Safo Kantankan married Kunadu Yiadom, who was then Asantehemaa, and they had children together. One of the fearsome histories of Mampong is that four children of Mamponghene Safo Kantankan became Asantehenes.They are Osei Kwame Panyin, Osei Tutu Kwamena Asibey Bonsu, Opoku Frefre, and Osei Yaw Akoto. This has never happened anywhere in the world, in Asanteman, and in Ghana,” he said in the Twi dialect in a recent interview with Wontumi TV/FM
Obiri Boahen added that this is one of the reasons the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, refers to the people of Mampong as his fathers.
The historian also said that Safo Kantankan, aside from marrying an Asantehemaa, also married two other queen mothers from different paramountcies.
“Safo Kantankan’s record was very terrifying. History has it that he married a Juabenghemaa, called Pantsia, which is a subject of debate. He also married a Kumawuhemaa… he married a lot of women, including an Asantehemaa, a Juabenghemaa and a Kumawuhemaa. Just one man — look at the number of queen mothers he married,” he added.
Watch a video of his remarks below (from 14:00 to 16:00):
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
