The King of Asante, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has endorsed the 2021 Ghana UK-Based Achievement (GUBA) awards to celebrate a centenary of the passage of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, the influential warrior and Queen Mother of Ejisu, who rose to lead an Asante army against the British.

The two-day event will start with a launch in Kumasi on the 7th of November 2021.

At the launch, the Otumfuo will host a cultural durbar in Kumasi and the climax will be at the main awards in Accra on the 8th of November 2021.

At a courtesy call by the leadership of GUBA to brief Otumfuo on the upcoming event, the King lauded the initiative to celebrate a century of the resilience and the transition of Yaa Asantewaa.

Pledging to attend the event, Otumfuo said the upcoming awards would further deepen the spotlight on the Asante culture and improve Ghana’s local and international tourism drive.

Otumfuo believes that the theme ofthe 2021 awards, “Celebrating a Symbol of Courage and Resilience”, is, indeed, befitting and would recognise and celebrate the resilience of all African women in the last century.

At the meeting, GUBA Enterprise’s President and CEO, Dentaa Amoateng MBE, indicated that GUBA awardees were the modern-day representation of Yaa Asantewaa, adding, “the role of women in this pandemic throughout Africa and the world at large, has been unprecedented; most took up the mantle of leadership, and with courage and resilience, helped to steer the world back onto the path of progress.”

The year 2021 marks a centenary of the death of Yaa Asantewaa, a Queen Mother and the last African woman to lead a major war against colonial powers in 1900, where she played the role of the Commander-in-Chief of the powerful Asante Empire.