'This tree was planted by my ancestor hundreds of years ago and my family settled here'

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'This tree was planted by my ancestor hundreds of years ago and my family settled here' 3 days ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Mark Wilberforce Apam, Ghana Mark Wilberforce The family home has been built around the tree At the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Ghanaian fishing town of Apam, there is a tree that most people barely notice. It stands on a stretch of red clay earth, rooted between two landmarks that tell very different chapters of Ghana's history. On one side is Fort Patience, built by the Dutch in 1697 during the era of European trading forts along what was then known as the Gold Coast, and used to trade in gold, ivory and enslaved people.

On the other is the Apam Methodist Church, a symbol of the Christian faith that spread through coastal communities in the centuries that followed. Fishermen pass it before dawn, carrying their nets towards the shoreline. Children drift past it after school, their routines shaped by the same paths their parents and grandparents once walked.

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And on Tuesdays, when Apam observes a long-standing spiritual tradition and no-one goes out to fish, the town falls into an unusual stillness, the Atlantic rolling quietly in the background. For most people, the tree is simply part of the landscape. But for my family, this tree has a name: Santseo, a Fanti word loosely translated as "Under" - because people settled underneath its shade.

According to oral history passed down over the generations, Santseo was planted in the 13th Century by Komfo Nana Asumbia, a royal figure to whom we trace our lineage. However, to my knowledge, no tests have been done to check how old the tree really is. Long before forts, churches or written records marked this coastline, a group of travellers left Akwamufie, the historic capital of the Akwamu Kingdom.

They were led, family accounts say, by a woman, Nana Asumbia. She is remembered not only as a royal figure, but also as a spiritual leader whose authority extended beyond governance into belief and ritual. "She was a royal, but at the same time, a chief priest," says local historian Emmanuel Arkoful, a distant relative.

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The plaque by the tree, just about legible despite years of erosion, reads: "To the glory of God In commemoration of Nana Asumbia of Akwamufie in the eastern region of Ghana and grandmother of Nana Kweedwua Santsewadze Twidan Royal Family. " The precise reason for their departure from Akwamufie has been lost to time. Some accounts suggest conflict or unrest.

Others point to a people who were not sedentary but moved around when circumstances required. But what has endured is not just the fact that they moved. It is how they chose where to stop.

"They travelled with seedlings," Arkoful explains. Wherever the group paused along their journey westward, they planted one. "If after a few days the tree showed signs of life and began to take root, they believed that place was meant for them," Arkoful says.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.