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Over 183 Years Ago, The Dutch Killed Ghanaian King Badu Bonso II And Took His Head Back To Netherlands

The 27th of July is a bleak day in Ahanta's history. Badu Bonso II, Ahanta's king, was assassinated by the Dutch, and today is a day of mourning, grief, and wailing. His head was removed and taken to the Netherlands

where it remained for more than 170 years until Arthur Japin discovered it in 1997. Badu Bonso II's head was returned to Ghana in 2009 following a brief ceremony in the Hague. A delegation from Ahanta, led by leaders and grandsons of Badu Bonso II

collected the head from Dutch government without recompense for the horrors and horrible crimes committed against the Ahanta people.

King Badu Bonso II Opposition To The Dutch

In 1830, Badu Bonsu II began to have problems with the Dutch, who were exploiting Ahanta based on the Butre Treaty, which was signed on August 27, 1656. Badu Bonso II challenged the Butre Treaty's provisions and references

resulting in clashes between him and the Dutch officials in Gold Coast. Badu Bonsu II had been at odds with them for eight years. Badu Bonso II exacerbated the crisis by prohibiting the sale of guns and gunpowder in Ahanta, as well as selling them to adjacent tribes

particularly the Wassa. The Dutch in Ahanta instigated some subchiefs of Badu Bonso II against him since the restriction on the selling of guns and gunpowder ran against their commercial and economic interests. Eteroe of Sekondi was one of these subchiefs.

Badu Bonso II had a good connection with Eteroe of Sekondi at first, but the Dutch quickly made it sour and unpleasant. Badu Bonso II is believed to have sentenced Eteroe of Sekondi to death after discovering that he was surreptitiously selling guns and gunpowder to the

Wassa with the help of the Dutch. Eteroe sought asylum with the Dutch, and the problem was finally brought to the attention of Hendrick Tonneboijier, the acting Dutch governor of the Gold Coast stationed at Elmina at the time.

Tonneboijier sent for Badu Bonso II, but he declined to accompany him, fearing that the Dutch would transport him to the West Indies as a slave. When Tonneboijier realized Badu Bonso II was not returning his calls, he dispatched George Maasen

the commandant at Elmina at the time, to Butre, along with Adrian Cremer, the Dutch officer at Fort Batenstein at Butre, to guarantee Badu Bonso II was brought to him at Elmina, dead or alive. Badu Bonso and a band of armed men from Busua eventually met

Maasen and Cremer at Butre, but were unable to approach Fort Batenstein, a Dutch fort and trading station built on the Gold Coast in 1656. Badu Bonso II requested that the dispute be settled at Anthony Rhule's home. Maasen and Cremer attempted to arrest Badu Bonso II by force

during the deliberations, but he resisted. They fired warning shots at him, and he responded by murdering them and transporting their heads to his palace in Busua. Badu Bonso II had killed Maasen and Cremer, according to Tonneboijier.

He gathered forces and teamed up with Ahanta to arrest Badu Bonso II on his own. Tonneboijier and his army confronted Badu Bonso II and his forces in Takoradi. Badu Bonsu II had Tonneboijier murdered and his forces killed in less than 30 minutes.

Tonneboijier is reported to have fled to Fort Tacaray, but Badu Bonso II chased him and killed him at the Fort's door. Badu Bonso II had assassinated Tonneboijier and other Dutch officials in the Gold Coast, and news reached Hague, the Netherlands' capital, in February 1837.

William I swiftly convened meetings and chose Gen. Jan Verveer to command a 200-man mercenary expedition to Ahanta to put down what they called a rebellion. In the days after the expedition arrived in Elmina in May 1838, Gen. Jan Verveer went around mobilizing

local warriors from the Fante, Wassa, Sekondi, Axim, and other tribes, in addition to the 200 mercenaries he brought from Hague in his attempt to fight Badu Bonso II.

General Verveer and his forces arrived in Ahanta in July 1838. Badu Bonso II was apprehended on July 26, 1838, following a violent struggle with his men. Badu Bonso II was transported to Butre, where he was hanged on July 27, 1838

at the same location where he had previously executed Maasen and Adrian Cremer. Schillet, an Elmina castle medical officer, removed his head and placed it in a Formahyde jar, which they transported to Elmina and eventually to Hague.

Schillet was only given the task of removing Badu Bonso II's head out of curiosity. Several Ahanta royals were taken along, mainly from Busua and Takoradi, and some of them were hung at Elmina in August 1838. The rest were loaded onto a ship bound for the Dutch West Indies.

Several Ahanta residents fled after Busua and Takoradi were entirely destroyed. Many towns vanished, and there was no Ahanta ruler for ten years until Hima Dekyi of Dixcove guaranteed that a king was installed later.

The newly installed monarch died soon after, and subsequent kings would die in mysterious circumstances. The royals of Busua, particularly the women, were terrified by the inexplicable deaths of successive rulers.

Fearing that their male children might be placed as kings, royal mothers began hiding their male children. Others, together with their male children, fled Busua and never returned.

The Dutch sold all of their trading possessions in Ahanta in April 1872 and left for forever. They left Ahanta divided and perplexed which have persisted to this day. The Dutch invasion of Ahanta and the death of Badu Bonso II took place exactly 183 years ago today

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