Peggielene Bartels, secretary to Ambassador Kwame Bawuah-Edusei and divorcee of a ex-husband she was still in love with, worked virtually from sun-up to sundown as a secretary at the Ghanian embassy. She had no personal life; she dedicated it to her office job at the embassy, making sure that behind the scenes, the embassy was well-oiled and efficient. For 29 years she had worked in administrative positions in Washington DC, meeting African heads of state and US senators and planning glittering parties. Born in Ghana, she had been something of an anomaly, a female with a mouth, spirit and an attitude in the male-dominated society that just didn't fit. And then she got the strange 4 a.m. call, the call that transformed her from mere secretary to king of a city in Ghana ... if she would accept. She thought and thought and the spirits told her to accept. She knew if she did, finally her strong male-like outspoken qualities could be put to use in her home country of Ghana.
She had been raised a Christian, or at least having Christian principles, but she never totally turned her back on the spirits of her homeland for to do so would be disastrous. She poured water for her mother's spirit every night and schnapps every morning for everyone knew that the spirits were always thirsty. In the same way, Peggielene had been "chosen" to be the next king by the pouring of schnapps and the schnapps bubbling over when her name was intoned, thus the spirits informing the elders that Peggielene, the only woman on the list of 25 people suggested to be king, should be the one chosen and crowned.
Peggielene thought about the proposition but didn't readily accept. There were too many big considerations, and the biggest was that Otuam, the city she was to govern, was flat broke, the palace in total disrepair and the infrastructure for water and education almost non-existent. The task would be momentous, not to mention that she couldn't become king until the previous king, who was in refrigeration and incurring daily costs by being there, was properly buried with a big sendoff and that could only be done in the right setting - a totally refurbished palace. Where would she get that kind of money?!
After careful deliberation and the spirits seeming to speak to her constantly about accepting, she did. She flew to Otuam, Ghana and immediately missed her air-conditioned apartment, especially when she discovered that five people would be sharing her simple little hot room, because she was king and her relatives spirits would be needed in the room to protect her. She didn't think a slumber party at her age was fitting, but what could she do? She went to take a shower, and the bucket on the bathroom floor reminded her that there was no running water in Otuam. She bucket bathed.
The next day Peggy went to meet her elders, old, crafty and dishonest ... as she somewhat suspected and soon found out just how sneaky and snaky they were, for whatever money was collected in taxes went into their pockets and whatever money she gave for the restoration of her palace or anything else, never got beyond their pockets. And it was dishonorable to fire them ... they were men, and her elders and had been elders to her uncle the previous king. In time, she learned and on her second visit to Otuam, she began confronting them and voicing her strong opinion. Her favorite roar to a couple of her elders was, "You have elected a man with breasts! Maybe I don't have balls, but for all that, I am a king and I am a man! ... I am going to squeeze your balls so hard your eyes pop out!" But that was later.
On her first visit to Otuam, Peggielene evaluated what must be done to bury the king, prepare the palace for the burial ceremony and for her acceptance and crowning as king, in which her "stool" would be venerated and libations of schnapps poured daily to it. The stool in Ghana is like the metaphysical chair of enthronement. It is a decorated stool of some material that takes on spiritual qualities once a king is crowned, or rather "enstooled". And henceforth, the new king and all the king predecessors would have libations poured to them on the daily basis, and the elder pouring the libations would discuss spiritual matters with the stool ... or perhaps it would be better to say, the stools conveyed spiritual matters to the pourer of the libations and he in turn would pass the matters along to the enstooled king.
As a woman with strong opinions and which had been furthered sharpened in her years in the UK and the US, she had big ideals for her little Otuam village. She intended to end wife-beating, a chronic problem; she planned on getting medical aid for people and a midwifery clinic; the town desperately needed running water, and of course better education was a priority too. Of course getting a decent road to Accra would be needed, and then more people and statement would be inclined to visit. She continually added to the list of "needs" for her Otuam. And as a barren woman who could never have children, thus the reason for her divorce, she now had 7,000 children ... and she intended to take care of them. She might have been useless as a wife who was incapable of bearing children children, but she didn't intend to be useless as king who takes charge over "his" children.
She scrimped and scraped money, confronting dishonest elders to get money; she revised the board of elders to create a more honest arrangement, putting hard-working fishermen and even sharp-meeting women on the board, she suddenly the village started paying attention to her as king, and the money that had previously been given to the elders was now transferred to the proper hands, and thus to the coffers of the town, and so progress could start to be made!
On the day of her "enstoolment" she ate her anti-urinary breakfast of boiled yams, palm oil and hard-boiled eggs (for a king must never be seen doing the basic functions of a man while holding court, which by the way could be every day). And sitting behind the Soul, a young vestal virgin girl whose own spirit would buffer that of the king's, Peggielene became king of Otuam, and finally a king-mother to 7,000.
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| Coronation day: King Nana Amuah-Afenyi VI of the Otuam people, sitting in state with her "soul," Nana Ama, twelve, the little girl whose innocence shields the new king from jealous evil spirits. Source |
November 2010 - early 2011 (The book King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village was published in 2012.)
After making wife-beating a punishable crime in Otuam and sinking two wells for public use and arranging for a Baptist school to be opened, King Peggy gained the respect of her people in the down-trodden poor town where the elders stole the town's tax money and spent it for themselves. Since becoming king, Peggy has been saving fishing fess and land sales to build a public latrine and create a library with Internet access for Otuam's kids. Nearby towns and city of Accra recognizes that King Peggy is building Otuam into a modern city and connecting roads are being repaired, resulting in investments in the town and the opening of shops, gas stations and other conveniences.
In October 2011, Pastor Colleton and members of Shiloh Baptist Church traveled once again to Otuam to submit a letter of intent for building a high school and meet with parents and kids to decide on scholarship awards and register them for scholarship programs. Furthermore, King Peggy and Pastor Colleton visited hospitals in Accra to determine the equipment and training needed for Otuam's nurses in order to open a medical center. Ambulances were also looked at for purchase.
The demands of Otuam are great and the income is small. All charitable efforts for the development of Otuam are to be directed through the Shiloh Baptist Church (on Facebook). Meanwhile, King Peggy continues her work as a secretary back at the Ghanian embassy in Washington DC. She is proud of her career, and the income, especially as being a king requires more income than her town at present can generate ... and she has such big goals for her town ... and so she continues to work for her 7,000 children.
