Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II

Osei Tutu II (born Nana Barima Kwaku Duah; 6 May 1950) is the 16th Asantehene, enstooled on 26 April 1999.

He was born on 6 May 1950 and named Nana Barima Kwaku Duah, the third son and youngest of the five children (three sons and two daughters) of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa (Queen-mother of the Ashanti).

His father Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa was from Kentinkyere in Ashanti and was also the Brehyia Duke of Asante.

When he was about five years old, Otumfuo moved into the royal household of his uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, the Hiahene, enstooled in 1952, as early preparation for his future role.

Osei Tutu has six children.

His father had other offspring from other marriages, including Yaw Boateng, Kwaku Duah, Kwabena Agyei-Bohyen, Afua Sarpong and Ama Agyemang (Kumasi, Ashanti), Fredua Agyeman Prempeh, Nana Kwasi Agyemang Prempeh and Nana Kwasi Boachie Gyambibi (Kumasi, Ashanti).

He had his elementary education in Kumasi and in 1964, went on to the Sefwi Wiaso Secondary School where he obtained his 'O' Level and was taught by the late Omanhene of Sefwi Wiawso, Nana Kwadwo Aduhene II who was a cousin of Otumfuo's guardian uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, Hiahene.

He also attended the Osei Kyeretwie Secondary School (OKESS).

He studied accountancy studies at the erstwhile Institute of Professional Studies, which is today known as University of Professional Studies in Accra.

He then enrolled at the Polytechnic of North London (now London Metropolitan University), where he earned the Diploma in Management and Administration.

Between 1981 and 1985, he was a senior consultant at the Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company in Toronto, Canada.

He returned to London in 1985 and became the Personnel Officer at the HPCC Stonebridge Bus Garage Project, in the London Borough of Brent.

He then founded his own mortgage finance firm, Primoda Financial Services Limited, located on Kilburn High Road, North West London.

He returned to his native Ghana in 1989 to start a transport business, the Transpomech International (Ghana) Limited.

The Asantehene is highly revered in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Osei Tutu has frequently commented on the work of Ghanaian politicians.

Nana Kwame Boakye-Dankwa died on 1 January 2002, in Kumasi, Ashanti.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu was named after his paternal grandfather, Ohenenana Kwaku Duah (Nana Agari), Brahyiahene, of Kentinkyere in the Atwima district.

President John Agyekum Kufuor instituted the Committee of Eminent Chiefs, headed by Osei Tutu II, to intervene in the 2002 Dagbon chieftaincy crisis.

The committee's mandate included facilitating negotiations and mediating talks between the Andani and Abudu royal families, and drawing a roadmap for the restoration of peace in the Kingdom of Dagbon.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university at a ceremony at the Barbican Centre on 11 January 2006.

He received international media attention after some of the Ashanti crown jewels were allegedly stolen from an Oslo hotel in October 2012 when he was attending a conference in the Norwegian capital.

His siblings include Nana Ama Konadu, (Nana Konadu Yiadom III) who is the 14th Asanteheemaa, as well as the late Barima Kwabena Poku, Barima Akwasi Prempeh.

By name, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is in direct succession to the 17th-century founder of the Ashanti Empire, Otumfuo Osei Tutu I.

He is also the Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is the Grand Patron of the Grand Lodge of Ghana and the Sword Bearer of the United Grand Lodge of England.

The committee presented their recommendations to the Government of Ghana on 21 November 2018.

The government implemented the recommendations that included the performance of the funerals of Mahamadu IV and Yakubu II from 14 December 2018 to 18 January 2019.

These were then followed by the investiture of Bukali II as substantive regent of the Kingdom of Dagbon.

In August 2019, he celebrated the Akwasidae with the Ghanaian community in the United Kingdom whilst on a short visit there.

Dignitaries at the function included Paapa Owusu Ankomah, the Ghana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

He has also received the 2019 CIMG President's Special Award.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II of the Empire of Asante resides at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, the capital city of Ashanti region and the Empire of Asante.

In December 2019, Bukali II paid a courtesy call on Otumfuo Osei Tutu at the Manhyia Palace, to express his gratitude for the role the Asante king played in the peace process.

Osei Tutu II's 20th anniversary commemoration took place on 21 April 2019, at the Dwabirem of the Manhyia Palace.

This was at the grand durbar of the Akwasidaekese.

Dignitaries like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin the vice president of Suriname and Torgbui Sri, the Awomefia of the Anlo state were in attendance.

Other dignitaries included Diplomats and royals from Namibia, Kuwait, Germany, China, Morocco, Latvia, Botswana and Palestine.

In February 2020, he became the first person to receive the 'Pillar of Peace Award'.

This was in recognition of the effort that he put into restoring peace to the Kingdom of Dagbon which spanned nearly two decades.