Queen Margarethe tours historical sites to round off state visit

The Queen of Denmark, Her Majesty Margarethe II, rounded off her three-day state visit to Ghana with a tour of some cultural sites in the Eastern Region on Saturday, November 25, 2017.

The sites were the beads market and the Cedi Beads Industry, both at Odumase-Krobo, and the palace of the Paramount Chief of the Akwamu Traditional Area, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, at Akwamufie.

At the beads market, the Queen and her entourage, accompanied by the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Catherine Afeku, toured the stands and inspected the beads sold by the women.

At the Cedi Beads Industry, Queen Margarethe was taken through the production of various types of beads by the Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mr Ebenezer Nomoda Djaba.

The Queen admiring some beads during a visit to the Odumase-Krobo beads market Pictures: GABRIEL AHIABOR

Akwamufie

At Akwamufie, the queen was given a rousing welcome by the chiefs and people, who performed various traditional dances to herald her arrival.

During an interaction, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto told Queen Margarethe that the people of Akwamu and the Danes had a long-standing history which dated back to the colonial days.

Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, who described the visit as historic, recounted the series of relationships the Akwamus had had with some Danes who had been to the area to fraternise in various ways.

Queen Margarethe

Queen Margarethe said it was a great pleasure for her to be at the palace as the guest of the chief to learn of the fascinating stories between the Danes and the Akwamus.

“I am touched to know that you still cherish the memories of those times,” she said, and wished the chief all the best.

As part of the visit, she inspected some of the beautiful artefacts at Akwamufie, including the keys to the Christianborg Castle which the Akwamus took in 1693.

History has it that when the then Akwamu King, Asameni, sold the Castle back to the Danes for 12 kilogrammes of gold, he kept the keys in his possession.

Since then, the Akwamu people have kept the keys as a trophy and proud symbol of their resistance of the Danes.

Press conference

During a press interaction, Queen Margarethe said she was very impressed with her visit to the country, adding: “I am happy with everyone I have come into contact with.”

“Even going through the villages and seeing people waving and looking kindly at us will be something I will always remember,” she added.

She was of the view that the relationship between Denmark and Ghana would be enhanced with her visit to Ghana.

“I came with representatives from 39 Danish firms and they are very much interested to get involved in Ghana through various business activities,” she noted.

Queen Margarethe described the beads she had seen as some wonderful products for tourists to see and buy when they came to the country, stating that she enjoyed seeing them herself.

The Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Anders Samuelsen, said the visit had been quite an experience.

“I feel very optimistic because the business delegation had had ‘some good talks’ with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen,” she said, adding that “going from aid to trade is the right thing to do now”.

A major aim of the visit, he said, was to establish more connections between Ghanaian and Danish businesses.