Yaa Asantewaa

Yaa Asantewaa (c. 1850-1921) was appointed Queen Mother of Edweso[?], a state in the Asante union in Ghana, by her brother, Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese[?].

When her brother died in about 1894, Yaa Asantewaa used her prerogative as queen mother to nominate her own grandson to succeed to the vacant office of king of Edweso. When her grandson was sent into exile in 1896 she became regent. After the British deported the king of the Asante, she became leader in the war of resistance in 1900, supported by some male leaders.

Eyewitness accounts from Edweso indicate that Yaa Asantewaa herself did not physically take up arms to fight. Her role was that of tactician, strategist and inspirational leader. She was known to have visited the soldiers in the battlefield to ascertain how they were faring. She also gave directions and advice as well as supplied gunpowder. In the end Queen Yaa Asantewaa was captured and sent to the Seychelles islands off Africa’s east coast, while most of the captured chiefs became prisoners-of-war.

Yaa Asantewaa remains a much-loved figure in Asante history.