1) Many people do not understand why the Denkyira Kingdom calls Akyem Kotoku Paramountcy and Adansi Bodwesango State as siblings. The grand matriarch of these three separate domains was Nana Bomaasi. Nana Bomaasi gave birth to Nana Agobami, Nana Anodineho and Nana Siema. This happened around the 1400s.
The descendant of Nana Agobami who is Nana Ayekra Adeboe created Denkyira Kingdom which is also known as Agona Piesie. The descendants of Nana Anodineho, Nana Yaw Awere, created Nnobiamu which later metamorphosed into Akyem Kotoku Paramountcy which is also known as Agona Manu.
The descendant of Nana Siema, which is Nana Owusu Dwamadua established the Mmraim State which they later migrated to form the Nkatieso and later to be called Adansi Bodwesango. Bodwesango is known as the last born or Agona Mensah among the siblings. So the royals of Denkyira, Akyem Kotoku and Adansi Bodwesango are blood relatives from Nana Bomaasi’s bloodline.
2) The term AGONA Clan came from the name Ago-bami. Agona or Ago-Nana means the grandchildren of Ago. Nana Agobami was affectionately called Nana Ago by all who knew her. So her people were known as Ago nananom or Agona for short.
3) In around 1498, when the Bankam Dwa of the Denkyira Kingdom descended from the sky and landed on the oil palm tree, it was a parrot that announced it to the Priestess-Queen Nana Ayekra Adeboe. When Nana Ayekra Adeboe got to the oil palm tree, she saw many parrots eating the oil palm fruit from the tree the stool landed on.
This brought about the saying, “s3 wo hunu ako a, mento ne boba na ofiri dodo) mu” trans “when you see a parrot, don’t stone it because it comes from pandemonium”. It was Nana Ayekra Adeboe who adopted the parrot eating palm fruit as the royal totem (akraboa) of the Agona Clan.
When all is said and done, remember that Nana Ayekra Adeboe established most of the spiritual philosophies governing the Denkyira Kingdom. Most of these philosophies were adopted by the Asante Kingdom which is an offshoot of the ancient Denkyira Kingdom.
Written by: Nana Boadu Ntiamoah (Secretary
Denkyira Heritage Foundation)
