A bust of Prempeh II

King Prempeh II set up a special educational legacy for his future begats. The only other King in the history of the modern world to have done that with a similar tenacity elsewhere was English King Henry VI, who established Eton - The Kings College of England - in 1440. It will be 509 years before another great Royal Boys' School will be chartered elsewhere by another great monarch. This is not to imply that Prempeh and Eton are the only royal boys schools in the world. Certainly not. But the history surrounding the provenance of these two great schools of international repute and the high esteem in which they are held by their respective monarchies, is so staggering that to find a royal anywhere in our geographic entity who is not a Prempeh votary is as rare as a Christian who doesn't accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour!

To learn more, let us examine some royal facts: Besides being founded by a great King and being co-forged by a heir apparent - a man who later served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the College before becoming King - Prempeh is the only College where it is required by modus for the Headmaster to hold an annual Speech day and present an account of his stewardship to His Majesty The Asantehene. For nearly 30 years, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II (reigned 1970-1999) spent a day of each year on campus listening to reports of the School's order. He basically continued where his predecessor, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II (reigned 131-1970) had left off.

Homecoming of the Kings on campus for the Launching of the Jubilee in May 1998

In fact, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II sent his own son, the current Akyempemhene of Asante - Nana Oheneba Adusei Poku - to the school. He was the 1967/68 Assistant Senior Prefect of Prempeh. Bariama Danso Koroko, the Akyempemhene of Akyem Abuakwa also attended The Royal School. So were Daasebre Oti Boateng, New Juabenhene; Daasebre Akuamoa Boateng II, Kwahuhene; Kpeteple Narh Dawutey VI, Konor of Manya Krobo; Nana Oduro Nimepaw, Essumagyahene.

Male royals are sent from all over the nation to be educated at Prempeh College. The list is endless: They include the late Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II, the late Akyem King; Nana Osei Bonsu II, Mamponghene; Nana Asumadu Sakyi II, Kumawuhene; Nana Ofori Agyeman, Adansihene; Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, Acherensuahene; Nana Akyena Kwagyan Nuama V, Asuonwunhene, and Kontre Mensa of the Kumasi Kontre Division and Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante, Omanhene of Asokore Traditional Area.

Nana Asumadu Sakyi II, Kumawuhene

Even our current Patron, Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu Opemsoo II qualified for admission as a boy and was sent to Prempeh - The Kings College of Ghana. But his uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, the Hiahene of Asante pulled him out of the school after meeting with the Headmaster on reopening day owing to the innumerable royals he saw roaming the campus. He didn't want the future Asantehene to commix with them.

In his first interview as Asantehene (June 1999, Uneek Magazine), King Osei Tutu II told his "Prempeh heritage story" to the whole world. Dear reader, you can just imagine the power and the prestige the name Prempeh College evokes around the world: in the very first paragraph of his first interview as King, His Majesty attested to the greatness of King Prempeh's School, and how he missed being a part of it all. He did not even talk about the school he was transferred to! There's something about the great Prempeh College!

Asantehemaa on campus presenting an award to N.O.A. Caesar for academic excellence

Even the Asantehemaa, the Queenmother Nana Afia Kobi Ampem II, visits the royal campus. She awarded Senior Nana Ofori Ampem Caesar for his academic excellence in 1988.

Moreover, the Queen of Dwaben visited the campus in 1998 and pleaded that Headmaster Sekyere admit her "unruly kids who are heirs to the Dwaben throne." The Queenmother wanted the royals to pick up some "suban ne nimdee" (knowledge and integrity) at The Kings College. She told the headmaster, "weinom yeh me nananom nkwadaa nketewa a daakye oomo bedi adie. Oomo di nkwadaabonesem wo fie, enti gye won na kyere won adie mame" (these are my little royals who will inherit my throne some day. They are being unruly and bad at home, so please take them and train them for me and the people of Dwaben).

Now, by virtue of his position as Asantehene, the Otumfuo continues the endless procession of fulgent royal splendour and inheritance which began with King Prempeh II and passed on to Otumfuo's predecessor, King Opoku Ware II.

Shortly after ascending the throne, he gave a huge sum of money to the College. He was then invited to grace the occassion of the College's Golden Jubilee Anniversary and to unveil a sulpture of the College's founder, King Prempeh II on the campus.

The faith of our founding fathers in their own abilities and their faith in each other made Prempeh - The Kings College a pace-setting reality. Their faith and vision said that the time was indeed right for black people to take charge of their own destiny. It was a Faith that insisted that simply because a thing had never been done before did not mean the thing was impossible to do. Theirs was a Faith that gave birth not only to a nation but also to a movement - a movement that was the progenitor of many other schools around the the Northern sector of Ghana.

They plant a tree to mark the Jubilee

There is an interesting story found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. It tells how Abraham, the man proclaimed as Father Abraham by the Hebrew people, was told by Yahweh to get out of the land of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan. "Get thee out to thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Abraham might have stayed under the roof and cloak of his father's house, he might have been satisfied with the little world of Ur of the Chaldees, but he obeyed God, HE OBEYED DESTINY, he obeyed his calling and moved from the realm and contentment unto a wider horizon of exploration.

Similarly, Prempeh II said to Opoku Ware II, "go into the Sofoline mountains, and survey for me a land upon which I'll build my school, will leave lasting impressions to the admiration of posterity." Opoku Ware II obeyed destiny and went out and did the work for the King's First College, just like Abraham in the land of the Chaldees. For 14 days and 14 nights Nana Opoku painfully surveyed in the hot sun. Abraham was the first pioneer of the Bible, and our fathers, sons of Ghana, were the first pioneers of GHANAIAN DESTINY in 1949. They moved out, they sought new frontiers and they conquered.

Mamponhene & Asokorehene

Life is like a relay race. One takes a flag and runs a distance and passes it on to another, then another, on and on the go until the finishing line is crossed.

King Prempeh II. King Opoku Ware II. King Osei Tutu II. The Kings College of Ghana. A continuation of the endless procession of lore and splendour.

Fifty years and counting.