Amma Prempeh Presents: Royal Kente Experience with Teacher Kantanka

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Hi, my name is Ama Prempeh and today I am live at Adanwomase Kente Enterprise [music] Kente Shop in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana. So, I've come for round two of a walk through on Kente with our one and only Teacher Kantanka Osei Bonsu Safo Kantanka. And this shop happens to be the shop where Idris Elba, British [music] actor, when he visited Ghana in 2023, he bought his Kente right in this shop. So, I want to know more about royal Kente, what the king wears, >> [music] >> how it's done, how his scouts are able to scout out and see if another person is wearing something similar to the king so they can alert the king ahead of time for events. And so, Teacher Kantanka will be [music] taking us through this. So, Teacher, over to you.

[00:01:07]Well, as you've already mentioned, Right. um we have categories and different types of Kente. Right.

[00:01:18]Now, we have >> [music] >> type of Kente which is worn by ordinary people. Mhm.

[00:01:26]Ordinary people because um the most intricate aspect of the Kente determines the cost. Mhm. So, the ordinary people's one normally uh takes a very short period Right.

[00:01:45]>> to weave.

[00:01:46]Now, the case of the medium one also takes a longer period than the ordinary.

[00:01:54]Mhm. Then we have a more complex one.

[00:01:57]Mhm. Which takes um uh a very longer period.

[00:02:02]And these complex ones are normally set aside for the kings, for the people who are wealthy. Those who can pay Right.

[00:02:18]>> for such things.

[00:02:20]Under normal circumstances, the king can wear all categories of types.

[00:02:26]But his type is usually designed differently. The name would be the same. The pattern would be the same, but the complications and the the >> [singing] >> the the texture of the kente would be different. Right.

[00:02:45]>> Because if we have to use about, say, three categories of weaving, his would jump to the fifth category. Mhm. So there is usually a difference between that type where [music] the king wears, which important personalities like the big chiefs who are lower than the king wear. They also would not wear the same type as the kings the king would wear. So there is a category of a choice.

[00:03:25]>> Right. So sometimes people can go wayward and go and make more complex ones.

[00:03:35]Which would seem closer to what the [music] king would wear.

[00:03:40]So what the king does is the the whole institution for the king's wardrobe.

[00:03:48]There is He has a whole chief responsible for his clothing. Mhm.

[00:03:54]And this chief has scouts under him.

[00:03:57]Mhm.

[00:03:58]So, before the king comes to take his seat in any gathering, the scouts and then the [singing] chief uh wardrobe or the king or the chief of responsible for wardrobe would move around to see if anybody is wearing Mhm.

[00:04:19]the type he has decided to let the king wear. He's the one who chooses for the king. Mhm.

[00:04:27]So, he knows [singing] what he's going to choose for the king. Mhm. So, he comes around with the scouts >> Mhm.

[00:04:32]to see [music] if they have somebody's wearing something closer to what he has chosen for the king to wear for the day. Right. If he notices that somebody's wearing something closer, then he goes back and change he would change what he has chosen for the king. Mhm. In this case, is the king who would change his. Right.

[00:04:57]Now, when the king comes to sit, before anybody comes in with another type closer to the king's, then the one coming late would have to change his.

[00:05:09]>> Mhm.

[00:05:10]And for that to be more democratic, what they do is to advise the one who has come late. Right.

[00:05:21]Uh >> [music] >> to change his and they will select a particular type of cloth Mhm.

[00:05:29]same kente Which? which is being stored Mhm. ask him to wear one of those >> Mhm. so that his will be put aside. And when he is going back, when the the time ends for the meeting to come to an end or the gathering to come to an end, they will give back his kente to him. Mhm. So, this is um in the olden days, uh what they did was that [music] whether you came in late or you came in earlier, you would have to change yours. Right.

[00:06:01]>> In this um modern dispensation, it is the other way around. Okay. The king comes late, therefore, the one who came first, the king would [music] change his because he's coming late. Right.

[00:06:15]>> But, if um somebody comes later than the king, then he would have to change. Right.

[00:06:22]>> But, he may not have come with other pieces of cloth. Mhm. So, they they [music] would the wardrobe chief would aid you to uh change by giving him uh another type to wear. Okay, very interesting. So, teacher, can you pick uh a kente example for us >> [music] >> that His Royal Majesty King Osei Tutu II would likely wear at an event uh at an Akwasidae?

[00:06:49]And I [music] and and explain the the colors, the symbols for us.

[00:06:54]We can uh not get any of what [music] the king would wear. Right. Uh because his kente is not sold um in the shops. Right.

[00:07:08]He's always almost always always uh his kente is designed by his um craft men. Okay. It is only when he has worn that people um would copy his. Right. But, this is made for the public. This is made for the public.

[00:07:29]>> that is to say that there's not a single uh kente that we can >> have this one. Okay. Which has the designs of the Ashanti colors. Okay.

[00:07:41]So, more often than not the king wears a type of cloth Mhm.

[00:07:49]decorated with this um yellow, green, and black Ashanti cloth.

[00:07:56]Mhm. So, he he almost always has a lot of Kente with these colors.

[00:08:02]>> Mhm. Uh that is not to say that nobody can wear those ones. Right.

[00:08:08]>> People can wear. Mhm.

[00:08:10]>> But his type cannot be found in the shop.

[00:08:15]>> regular shop. Okay. He's got a a special team, special house Yes, that's it.

[00:08:22]>> does the Kente. Okay. Now, [music] whilst we're here, I I see such lovely jewelry, uh "chao chao" the local name for the the sandals [music] worn, swords. Can you Is that Does that represent anything? Does that mean anything >> [music] >> for for the king, for the royal household?

[00:08:47]Yes, almost everything you see around is um what the royal house uh or chiefs and kings wear. Right.

[00:09:03]>> Almost everything you see around. Right.

[00:09:05]>> Queen mothers, queens chiefs kings have all these as their decorate decorations. [music] Right.

[00:09:15]>> Used to decorate the body. And some of the things are also symbols. They are only symbols. They are not used for decorating the body, but they are used as symbols. Mhm. For example, you're talking about the sandals. Right. Uh the sandals uh is called ahemima. Ahemima that means uh whoever it, uh imitates chiefs.

[00:09:40]>> [music] >> Right. Ahenema is the the son or daughter of the >> [laughter] >> the king. Uh-huh. So, if you are doing something closer to what um a chief would wear, then we >> [music] >> that type of sandals is called ahenema.

[00:09:59]>> Ahenema.

[00:09:59]>> Now, it has also got another name, which is called um chao chao. Chao chao is the way it sounds. So, it is the onomatopoeia uh approach to the naming. Oh, wow.

[00:10:14]Okay.

[00:10:15]>> chao. That is the sound it gives when people wear Uh-huh. and walk around.

[00:10:22]Now, others are the the top ones we see there are swords, which are used to dance Mhm. during a time that the chief or the king is dancing, they normally use swords. So, who gets to hold the sword? Can can I, for example, buy a sword or is only specifically for kings and and and queens? Well, for decoration, yes. You can have all types of things as decoration, but using it on your body as body decoration requires permission from whichever chief is around. Okay. Okay.

[00:11:04]Okay.

[00:11:05]>> [music] >> Um what about the the hats? Do they symbolize anything or Yes, they also decorated to have >> [music] >> names, meanings, and philosophy behind them. What the type of cups that you seeing up there decorated with guns and swords Uh-huh.

[00:11:29]presupposing that uh, it is used by >> [music] >> chiefs and queens. Okay. Okay. Wow.

[00:11:36]>> This is called krob on che. Krob on che.

[00:11:39]Yeah, that's it. Okay. Okay.

[00:11:42]Uh, and finally, the these over here.

[00:11:47]Yeah, they they are they are used as whips. Whips. Yes, [music] for, uh, in the olden days when chiefs go to the war front. Uh-huh. Uh, they they normally whip people to move to the war front, especially those who are exhibiting signs of cowardice.

[00:12:06]>> Uh-huh. So, this is why why the chiefs would have this around their necks.

[00:12:11]Uh-huh. So, when it comes to whipping people to the war front, [music] they use that. These days they are only meant for decoration. Okay. Finally, we are Ashanti's and we do love our gold.

[00:12:24]So, I can see some lovely jewelry, rings, etc. Again, do they have any symbolism?

[00:12:31]>> [music] >> Um, anything you can educate us on?

[00:12:34]Yeah, they are all, uh, for body decoration of chiefs and queens. Uh-huh.

[00:12:40]And, uh, ordinary people can wear simple ones. Uh-huh. Um, each has a name, Uh-huh.

[00:12:49]meaning and philosophy attached Right.

[00:12:53]>> Some of them uh, can be explained simply by the designs Uh-huh. on them. If you see, um, usually some symbols of animals because our our culture is such that animals are symbols for our groupings.

[00:13:18]For example, uh, we are maternal >> [music] >> and we have eight families. Everybody who [singing] belongs to the community belongs to one of the nine maternal groups. Okay. So, and each maternal group has a symbol. Mhm.

[00:13:37]The Edryana group, they use the dog.

[00:13:40]They the Asana, they use the crow. So, you have all these things decorating sitting on the rings. Mhm. So, if you want to prove to people that you are you belong to one of these groups. So, whatever you go, you're wearing the [music] right the right ring. Okay. Right, so we've learned a lot today. We've learned more about royal Kente, the [music] the jewelry, the the head gear that goes with Kente and queens. So, hopefully you've learned a lot about Kente. I am concluding by saying that I'm also wearing a lovely Kente Fatiha Nkrumah, which was named after the late president Nkrumah's wife. As in Fatiha befitted [music] Nkrumah. So, if you come to Ghana, you must get your hands on Kente.

[00:14:39]Thank you for watching. I hope you've learned a lot. See you here soon. Thank you for now. Bye-bye.

[00:14:55]>> [music] [singing] [music] [singing]