Kwame Tua: The ‘hated’ Asante traitor who snatched an Asantehene’s wife

This is a story shrouded in many narrations, from several narrators, but there is one running theme: Kwame Tua was a hated man within the Ashanti world.

It is unclear what his exact position was in the kingdom, during the era of the colonial masters, but one thing was clear; Kwame Tua became a darling boy of the British because he always fed them with information about his people.

Referred to as a traitor of the Ashantis, it is even believed that, to date, the mentioning of that name is prohibited, especially within the confines of the kingdom of the Asantehene.

In one of the many accounts about the man Kwame Tua, it is said that he revealed secrets about his people to the British and was very instrumental in the arrest and capture of the warrior queen mother of Ashanti, Yaa Asatewaa.

This, it is believed, he was able to achieve with the support of a certain Kwasi Apea Nuamah, believed to be his elder brother.

A 78-year-old man, for instance, who called into a radio discussion on Kwame Tua, on Kumasi-based Nhyira FM, gave his own accounts of what he knew about the man.

He described how powerful Kwame Tua became, so much so that while he did not have any particular work that he did, he became so feared that he even took away one of the wives of an Asantehene.

“Kwame Tua had no specific work he was doing but he had the favour of the Whites because he was their informant, telling them about everything that was happening within the Ashanti circles.

“Due to this, he and one Nuamah became so powerful that nobody could speak about them. There was even a time that Kwame Tua succeeded in collecting one of the wives of the Asantehene because he had the backing of the Whites,” he narrated.

The elderly man, whose name was not mentioned on the program, also corroborated the claims that Kwame Tua was instrumental in the arrest and capture of Yaa Asatewaa.

He added that this was done with support from his brother, Nuamah, after which the two were rewarded by the British colonialists upon the exile of Prempeh I.

“In fact, it was through Nuamah and Kwame Tua that information got to the Whites about the whereabouts of Yaa Asantewa, and she was captured,” he narrated.

“How all of these benefitted him was that when Asantehene Prempeh I was captured and sent away, all of the Ashanti stools were left unattended to. Nuamah told the Whites that he wanted the position of the Linguist to the Otumfuo. Kwame Tua, on the other hand, asked for one of the seats of the royals. By the way, Nuamah and Kwame Tua were siblings,” he added.

GhanaWeb cannot, however, confirm the truths of the above accounts on Kwame Tua, although there are several academic and personal accounts on the name, and his brother, Nuamah, on the internet.