The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is named after Otumfuo Osei Tutu I, who is regarded as the founder of the Ashanti Empire.
Stories are told of how the first Asantehene got the name, “Tutu,” and what it actually means.
Historian Yaw Anokye Frimpong, in a recent interview on Max TV, gave the history behind the name and why it was given to the current king of the Asante Kingdom.
Anokye Frimpong, who is also a lawyer by profession, began with an explanation of why Asantes name their kings after past ones.
He said that Asantes believe in reincarnation, adding that chiefs believed to be reincarnated have the additional name of ‘Ababio’, which literally means ‘has come again.’
“In the Asante tradition, we believe that our chiefs are reincarnated. The title of Osei Tutu III was Opemsuo. Opemsuo means ‘he fights without backtracking no matter what happens’… So, we have something like Opemsuo Ababio, which means, ‘Opemsuo has reincarnated’,” he explained in the Twi dialect.
The historian added that the name of the first Asantehene was Osei Kofi and not Osei Tutu, as has been claimed in some history books.
“Again, let us understand the meaning of the name Osei Tutu. Some history books say that Osei Tutu I’s mother gave him that name after a deity who helped her give birth when she was having trouble conceiving. But this is not true. If his name was Osei Tutu from his childhood, why would history say that before his enthronement, he was called Osei Kofi? The name he was called from childhood was Osei Kofi,” he narrated.
He went on to tell the story of how the first Asantehene got the name ‘Osei Tutu.’
According to him, “Osei Tutu” is a corrupted form of an accolade for Osei Kofi because of the might of the soldiers who were assigned to protect him and the weapons they were using.
“Asantes used to be under the people of Denkyira, and they had notes to the Elmina Castle. They had direct access to the coast, but the Asantes did not have that to be able to buy guns for their battles.
“What happened was that when Osei Tutu’s uncle died and he was summoned, the Akuamuhene, Ansa Sasraku, gave him about five well-trained soldiers. Ansa Sasraku told them to come to Accra and go to the Danish Castle (Christiansborg Castle) to purchase state-of-the-art weapons,” he said.
The historian added, “These weapons were over and above what the people of Denkyira had ever seen before. So, he (Osei Kofi) had trained soldiers and weapons that no one had seen before, so that they would defeat any person they fought with.”
He explained further that Osei Tutu defeated all his enemies with the soldiers and weapons given to him, which made him feared.
The reference people gave him because of his might was corrupted into the name that exists today, he added.
“So, when this was done, Osei Tutu (who was by then Osei Kofi) was able to defeat his enemies and was given the name ‘the man who speaks through guns’. That was even what the British wrote – ‘the man who speaks through guns’.
“This is translated in Twi as ‘Osei a ɔto tuo’. ‘Osei a ɔto tuo’ is what has been corrupted to ‘Osei Tutu’,” he explained.
