The event took place September 16th, 2023 but the memories are still lingering for those who experienced the visit of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to UK’s University of St Andrews in Scotland. Officially, he was a guest of the student platform ‘St Andrews Africa Summit’ (SAASUM) but the August visitor who came in September was also received by the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Dame Sally Mapstone. The host and the guest had a discussion session covering education and polo before exchanging gifts.
There was a lecture the visiting African king delivered in the afternoon that day and the reception in the evening. The university’s information platform quotes SAASUM as describing the King as “a pinnacle for mediation, moderation, and peace across the continent.”
The 10-year anniversary coming is coming up during the Spring 2024. The platform is associated with “promoting educational development and curiosity, as well as instigating an inquiry into Africa’s historical ties with the Western world, changing narratives around Africa’s political and economic affairs, and inspiring a genuine interest and desire to participate in Africa’s future”. The Asantehene is a British educated traditional elite in Ghana. He reminds everyone of the Ashanti Empire in Ghana.
