In the late 19th century, the British were expanding their empire into Africa. As they moved into modern-day Ghana, and anxious about French and German influence over the area, they offered to extend a protectorate over the Ashanti people. The Ashanti King (Asantehene) Prempeh I, who had ascended to the throne in 1888, refused in order to protect Ashanti sovereignty. Trying to avoid a military confrontation, Prempeh I offered concessions on trade from his kingdom via an embassy sent to London. However, in 1895 the British instead launched what they called the “Second Ashanti Expedition” to take over the territory.
Confronted with the British troops, Prempeh I was forced to sign a treaty of protection. The British then arrested him and sent him into exile in 1896. Prempeh I spent the first four years of exile in the British colony of Freetown in Sierra Leone, in a house at 9 Howe Street. Besides himself, the monarch was detained with several members of his court.
In 1900, the “War of the Golden Stool” broke out as the British extended their rule over the Ashanti kingdom. Fearing the proximity to his former kingdom, the British then sent Prempeh I to the Seychelles, where he remained until his return from exile in 1924.
Although the house where Prempeh I stayed is long gone, in 2005 the Sierra Leone Monuments and Relics Commission placed a plaque on the spot, commemorating the Asantehene’s stay. There ceremony was attended by the Ghananian High Commissioner to Sierra Leone.
