Armed Forces Museum (Ghana)

During the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, the Aban Palace was destroyed and the rubble remains were utilized by the British to construct a fort at Kumasi in 1896. The fort was destroyed in armed rebellion against the British that year, but a replacement was erected in 1897. This survived as the Kumasi Fort or Armed Forces Museum.^[2]

In March 1900, Yaa Asantewaa (along with other rebels) held 29 Britons captive in the fort for several weeks. They would eventually release the detained women and children, who would go ahead and alert colonial forces from what is now present-day Nigeria who would rescue the remaining captives. 50 years later, from 1952 to 1953, the fort was taken over by Armed Forces and converted into a museum.^[3]

The museum mainly focused on showcasing military equipment, artefacts and objects used in the later half of the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. Its collection contains military medals, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns, and photographs and portraits.^[3]

The first hall, located close to the entrance of the museum, showcases weapons used by the Gold Coast army during World War II, including medals awarded by the 4th (Gold Coast) Infantry Brigade. Other showcases included captured weapons, photographs and maps from conflicts in the Congo, Myanmar, and Lebanon. Objects related to the Anglo-Ashanti Wars are also included at the display.^[4]

In the second hall, situated in the rear guard tower, displayed human bones and rifle stocks collected during the construction of a lorry park in Kumasi. In the third hall, next to the previous hall, showcases a collection of portraits of the Royal West African Frontier Force and the Gold Coast force. The second-to-final hall also showcases portraits of Prempeh I, Prempeh II and Yaa Asantewaa while the final hall displayed military company flags, the flag of the Gold Coast and the Ghanaian flag.^[5]

• List of museums in Ghana
• History of Kumasi

• "Armed Forces Museum". ICOM Ghana. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
• "Ghanamuseums". Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. Retrieved 18 May 2024.

• Hess, J. (2003). "Imagining Architecture II: "Treasure Storehouses" and Constructions of Asante Regional Hegemony". Africa Today. 50 (1): 27–48. doi:10.2979/AFT.2003.50.1.26. JSTOR 4187550. S2CID 144689165.

•   Media related to Ghana Armed Forces Museum (Fort Kumasi) at Wikimedia Commons

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