Akonnua — The Stool
In the Akan tradition, a chief is not simply crowned — he is enstooled. The stool (akonnua), not a crown, is the true seat of authority: the living link between the ancestors who came before, the community of today, and the generations yet unborn. To be enstooled is to be entrusted with a sacred office, bound by oath and custom to serve the people of Suaman with justice, dignity, and care.
What follows sets out the customary stages of the rite, the royal regalia of the Suaman court, the Great Oath of office, and the order of a coronation day — as observed within the Akan royal tradition to which Suaman belongs.
The Rite
From the fall of a vacant stool to the outdooring of a new chief, the enstoolment unfolds in ordered stages, each carried by the kingmakers and elders of the state.
When a stool falls vacant, the Queen Mother (Oman Hemaa), as head of the royal matrilineal family and principal kingmaker, consults the elders and nominates a candidate from among the eligible royals of the Oyoko lineage. The nomination is then presented to the full council of kingmakers for their acceptance. This custodial right of nomination safeguards the unbroken matrilineal succession of Suaman.
Once accepted, the chief-elect is taken into a period of seclusion, or confinement. Removed from ordinary life, he is instructed by the elders and linguists in the history, laws, taboos, and sacred responsibilities of the stool. This is a time of spiritual and moral preparation — the shaping of a private person into a public custodian.
Before the ancestors, the customary rites are performed and libation is poured. The chief-elect swears the Great Oath of the state upon the ancestral sword — pledging to serve the people justly, to protect the land, to uphold custom, and never to betray the stool. In turn, the divisional chiefs and elders swear their allegiance to him, binding chief and people to one another.
At the heart of the ceremony, the kingmakers lower the chief-elect gently three times over the sacred blackened stool (Akonnua Tuntum) — the seat of the ancestral spirits — symbolically uniting the person with the office and with all who have held it before. It is here that he receives his stool name, the royal name by which he will henceforth be known and remembered.
The newly enstooled chief is "outdoored" — presented to the people at a grand durbar. Borne in a palanquin beneath the great state umbrella, adorned in kente and gold, he receives the homage of the divisional chiefs, sub-chiefs, and citizens amid the sound of drums, horns, and dancing. The community rejoices in the continuity of the stool and the beginning of a new reign.
Emblems of the Stool
Each object of the royal court carries meaning. Together they clothe the office in dignity and tell, without words, the story and authority of the Suaman stool.
Akonnua Tuntum — the sacred seat of the ancestral spirits and the true throne of the state. Kept in the stool house, it is the spiritual heart of the office, never treated as ordinary furniture.
The hand-woven royal cloth of silk and cotton. Particular patterns and colours are reserved for royalty, worn draped in the customary manner on days of state.
Rings, bracelets, and pectoral discs of gold — signifying status, wealth held in trust for the people, and the radiance of the sun upon the stool.
Akofena — the ceremonial sword upon which oaths of office and allegiance are sworn, and an enduring emblem of authority and loyalty within the state.
Akyeamepoma — the gold-leafed staff carried by the chief's linguist. Its carved finial speaks a proverb of the state, for the linguist carries the chief's very words.
Ahenema — the ornamented royal sandals. By custom, the sacred feet of a chief must not touch the bare earth during the rites, and the sandals mark the dignity of the office.
The great fringed umbrella, twirled above the chief in procession. It shades the sacred person and announces, from afar, the presence of the stool.
Fontomfrom and atumpan — the royal drums that herald the chief, recite the appellations of the state, and carry its voice across the durbar grounds.
The Great Oath
The oath binds the chief to the people, and the people to the chief. Its exact words belong to the state that speaks them.
Order of the Day
An illustrative order of a durbar day, from the first libation at dawn to the celebration at nightfall.
Within Living Memory
On 9th February 2016, following the customary rites, Her Majesty Nana Mary Donkor was enstooled as Queen Mother of Suaman, taking the stool name Nana Adowa Konamah II. Her enstoolment was legally recognised, gazetted by the Sekondi High Court, and entered into the National Register of Chiefs — affirming her authority within the Chieftaincy Institution.
Her ascension is the most recent chapter in an unbroken tradition of enstoolment at Suaman, joining the person to the stool, the stool to the ancestors, and the ancestors to the future.
Read Her Majesty's story