"Strömberg to Basel"

The letter is mostly concerned with Akim politics, though his account is not very full. According to him the main cause of the present war (which Atta declared in January of 1860) was a Gyadam elder who had fled to Kibi, and then wanted his family to come to him. This would have been a substantial segment of the population of Gyadam, and the messengers set by Atta to Gyadam over this matter were chased away- hence the war. The attempt by the colonial goyernment to arbitrate between the two kings was carried on by an officer named Cochrane, who seems to have been quite powerless. He attemted to arrange a meeting between them at Osino. Atta did not attend. Strömberg went with the Gyadam contingent and according to his own testimony was able to play no little part in keeping the stay of the Gyadam people in Osino peacefully. He slept the night with the Gyadam people, even thought they were expecting an attack from the Kibi army. The first skirmish tool place at the foot of the mission hill at Gyadam on March 19th. The Kibi army was beaten back, and Osino evacuated. The mission’s relations with Cochrane do not seem to have been very close. They asked him to get a guarantee from Kibi that mission property in Gyadam would be respected, but he could get no answer on this point from Atta. He in turned offered them some soldiers, but this was refused at this stage. Strömberg claims that missionary influence over the Agyeman is visible in this situation. (i) Two prisoners of war were just sent back to Kibi, (ii) he had the wounds which one of them had suffered cared for (iii) when it was proposed by Cochrane that either each king should pay as surety 50 ounces gold or have members of each family drink fetish. Agyeman is said to have preferred the former, refusing the latter on the grounds of the missionaries teaching.

20.03.1860

20.03.1860

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