AT LAST, THE KING'S HEAD GOES HOME TO HIS BODY!

A king that resisted Dutch slave traders, in the then Gold Coast had his head chopped off and shipped to Denmark as a keepsake; and as a deterrent to warn others of the futility of resistance? Now tired of keeping their gruesome trophy, the Dutch has agreed to ship and have shipped back to Ghana, the severed head of King Badu Bansu for a formal internment among his subjects, his people. Icheoku says, the Dutch for putting up for their "laboratory stage play", a human head and that of a Ghanaian King, were nothing other than barbarians!

After spending 171 years in a forced exile in a foreign land, pickled and bottle up in a solution of Formaldehyde, the King's head has now finally gone home to his body, to be with people in Ghana and to be formally interred with his forebears and other kings of yore!

This is a good case-study of the cruelty and barbarism of the Dutch, who not only hung a King but went further to decapitate him just because he resisted their attempt at poaching the best of Africans out of then Gold Coast, as slaves. Icheoku says, King Badu Bonsu II was a hero who called the bluff of the Dutch's solicitation of slaves and refused them his acquiescence to their nefarious slave trade! It does not matter that he died with his honor intact; as the Dutch feeling humiliated by his resistance, hung him and later cut off his head as a trophy, which they probably presented to their own King or Queen in the Netherlands? Icheoku demands that the Dutch pay reparation and compensation for this heinous royal murder; as well as undertake whatever cost inherent in atoning for this sinful act of brutality, towards finally uniting the King's head with his body for his proper transition, in a manner atypical of traditional African way?

The King's head was cut off and taken to the Netherlands by Major General Jan Verveer in 1838; according to the Dutch account, in retaliation for King Badu Bonsu's killing of two Dutch emissaries, whose heads he displayed as trophies on his throne? Icheoku asks, what were the primary mission of the Dutch emissaries if not to persuade and strong arm-twist the King to become an accomplice in their slave trade; and allow them unfettered access to the best Africans they could possibly poach and sell in their criminal slave enterprise? We insist that the apology by the Dutch government for the Dutch involvement in slave trade is not sufficient and can never be sufficient since they appropriated the entire proceeds from the trade and used it all to develop Dutch-land; without repatriating any or some of them to the motherland as compensation? Icheoku says, the Dutch should pay compensation for their illegality; and at least for this King who they killed in cold blood to clear the way for their trade in human-beings. The Ghana government of President Attah Mills should take up this in very high diplomatic circle and insist that justice be served for King Badu Bonsu III and for the millions of other Africans who were forcibly kidnapped, shipped and sold into slavery by the Dutch.

Icheoku affirms that slave trade was not only "unfortunate and shameful," as it "inflicted so much harm on so many people in so many parts of the world," but it was the most heinous of all man's inhumanity to fellow man; for which the descendants of slave-traders should be so ashamed of their forebears' activities that they pay whatever sum is assessed as a fair compensation to the slave-victims descendants? Icheoku says, if the Jews can get compensation for Holocaust why not Africans for the heinous atrocities of slavery; and now with this specifically identifiable case for which Dutch government was complicit, wherein their paid soldier, hung, decapitated and hauled away the head of a Ghana King as a trophy back to Netherlands? The Dutch engaged in this nefarious trade for over three hundred years, after killing off such resistance as King Bada Bonsu III; exploiting the best Africa has to offer in terms of its human resources and selling them off for profit throughout Western civilization; and without returning any proceeds of sale to the motherland? Icheoku says, the Dutch human-plunderers were human-pirates who should be so ashamed of their slave trading past that they should cover their faces in shame.

The King's head was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde gathering dust in the anatomical collection of the Leiden University Medical Center, Holland in the Dutch-land. The man who "helped reunite the chief's head with his body" discovered the bottled-up head by accident, where it was locked away in a dark dungeon of a cupboard somewhere discreet, for more than 170 years. Could it be that the Dutch were still exerting vengeance on this King by so locking his head away in such isolated inhuman condition, for this King's perceived "arrogance"?The "discoverer of the King's head" was researching a story about a novel he was writing of an an Ahanta boy brought to Holland in 1837 as a slave. Icheoku says, holy macro, so it was not only the head of the Ahanta King that was shipped to Dutch-land? Has anybody seen the bones of this young innocent boy yet? According to the researcher, in 2002 when he found it locked way, "the staff took it out of the round jar and put it on the laboratory sink for me. It had been turned white by the formaldehyde but it was still life-size and he looked as if he was asleep. I felt, 'this is so wrong, you should go home''. Imagine a royalty being put in a laboratory sink by a Dutch technician, in such a cavalier manner and without any show of respect or dignity whatsoever?

Thank God for the return of the King's head! The delegation which returned King Bada Bonsu III's head were received at Kotoka International Airport Accra by government officials and members of the beheaded King's Ahanta clan, of Ashanti region. It will be recalled that in 2006, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland returned to New Zealand the preserved heads of nine tattooed Maori tribesman decapitated by British colonialists, for trophy in the 19th Century. Also, the same British slave profiteers through its Natural History Museum returned the remains of 18 indigenous Aborigines people part of a population that was violently displaced and some of which were forcefully yanked away from their native Australia to make way for British settlers?

For a little historical perspective, then Gold Coast (present day Ghana) was "discovered" by the Portuguese in the 15th century; then taken over by the Dutch, who were eventually bought out of their priceless possession by the British. The Ahanta Clan is part of Ashanti tribe and is located very near the coast, the reason the Dutch were so desperate for a quick access to their human-merchandise because of easy access to point of shipment? They were the first to trade with the Portuguese but as the Dutch took over and greed forced their hand into the most lucrative of all trades - slave trade, King Badu Bonsu fought back when he realised that this band of Europeans were up to no good. He chose to die fighting and standing tall in death, instead of going on all fours to allow the Dutch unfettered access to their human cargo. Icheoku says, warrior welcome home; now as you stand to be united with your other half, may you find the heart to forgive the murderous Dutch slave traders and their General Verveer for their lunacy, trading on human-beings! Long live your memory and bravery, King Badu Bonsu!