Yaa Asantewaa Yaa Asantewaa ( c . 1840 – 17 October 1921 ) ( pronounced YAA A - san - TE - WAA ) was appointed queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire — now part of modern - day Ghana — by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese , the Ejisuhene or " ruler of Ejisu " . In 1900 she led the Ashanti rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool against British colonialism . Prelude to rebellion . During her brother ' s reign , Yaa Asantewaa saw the Asante Confederacy go through a series of events that threatened its future , including civil war from 1883 to 1888 . When her brother died in 1894 , Yaa Asantewaa used her right as Queen Mother to nominate her own grandson as Ejisuhene . When the British exiled him in the Seychelles in 1896 , along with the King of Asante Prempeh I and other members of the Asante government , Yaa Asantewaa became regent of the Ejisu - Juaben District . After the deportation of Prempeh I , the British governor - general of the Gold Coast , Frederick Hodgson , demanded the Golden Stool , the symbol of the Asante nation . This request led to a secret meeting of the remaining members of the Asante government at Kumasi , to discuss how to secure the return of their king . There was a disagreement among those present on how to go about this . Yaa Asantewaa , who was present at this meeting , stood and addressed the members of the council with these now - famous words : With this , she took on leadership of the Asante Uprising of 1900 , gaining the support of some of the other Asante nobility . The rebellion and its aftermath . Beginning in March 1900 , the rebellion laid siege to the fort at Kumasi where the British had sought refuge . The fort still stands today as the Kumasi Fort and Military Museum . After several months , the Gold Coast governor eventually sent a force of 1 , 400 to quell the rebellion . During the course of this , Queen Yaa Asantewaa and 15 of her closest advisers were captured , and they too were sent into exile to the Seychelles . The rebellion represented the final war in the Anglo - Asante series of wars that lasted throughout the 19th century . On 1 January 1902 , the British were finally able to accomplish what the Asante army had denied them for almost a century , and the Asante empire was made a protectorate of the British crown . Yaa Asantewaa died in exile in the Seychelles on October 17 , 1921 . Three years after her death , on 27 December 1924 , Prempeh I and the other remaining members of the exiled Asante court were allowed to return to Asante . Prempeh I made sure that the remains of Yaa Asantewaa and the other exiled Asantes were returned for a proper royal burial . Yaa Asantewaa ' s dream for an Asante free of British rule was realized on 6 March 1957 , when the Asante protectorate gained independence as part of Ghana , the first African nation in Subsaharan Africa to achieve this feat . Social roles of Asante women . The confrontation of a woman , serving as political and military head of an empire , was foreign to British colonial troops in 19th century Africa . Yaa Asantewaa ' s call upon the women of the Asante Empire is based upon the political obligations of the Akan women and their respective roles in legislative and judicial processes . The hierarchy of male stools among the Akan people were complimented by female counterparts . Within the village , elders known as ( " mpanyimfo " ) heads of the matrilineages , constituted with the village council known as the " ôdekuro " . These women known as the " mpanyinfo " referred to " aberewa " or " ôbaa panyin " , to look after women ' s affairs . For every " ôdekuro " , an " ôbaa panyin " acted as the responsible party for the affairs of the women of the village and served as a member of the village council . The head of a division , the " ôhene " and the head of the autonomous political community , the " ômanhene " , had their female counterparts known as the " ôhemma " : a female ruler who sat on their councils . The " ôhemma " and " ôhene " were all of the same " mogya " , blood or localized matrilineage . The occupant of the female stool in the Kumasi state , the " Asantehemma " , and therefore , the united Asante , since her male counterpart was ex officio of the Asanthene , was a member of the Ktôtôkô Council , the Executive Committee or Cabinet of the Asanteman " Nhyiamu " , General Assembly of Asante rulers . Female stool occupants participated in not only the judicial and legislative processes , but also in the making and unmaking of war , and the distribution of land . Place in history and cultural legacy . Yaa Asantewaa remains a much - loved figure in Asante history and the history of Ghana as a whole for her role in confronting the colonialism of the British . She is immortalized in song as follows : To highlight the importance of encouraging more female leaders in Ghanaian society , the Yaa Asantewaa Girls ' Secondary School was established at Kumasi in 1960 with funds from the Ghana Educational Trust . In 2000 , week - long centenary celebrations were held in Ghana to acknowledge Yaa Asantewaa ' s accomplishments . As part of these celebrations , a museum was dedicated to her at Kwaso in the Ejisu - Juaben District on 3 August 2000 . Unfortunately , a fire there on 23 July 2004 , destroyed several historical items , including her sandals and battle dress ( " batakarikese " ) seen in the photograph above . The current Queen - mother of Ejisu is Yaa Asantewaa II . A second Yaa Asantewaa festival was held 1 – 5 August 2006 , in Ejisu . The Yaa Asantewaa Centre in Maida Vale , west London , is an African - Caribbean arts and community centre . It took its name in 1986 . A television documentary by Ivor Agyeman - Duah entitled " Yaa Asantewaa - The Exile of King Prempeh and the Heroism of An African Queen " was premiered in Ghana in 2001 . A stage show written by Margaret Busby , " Yaa Asantewaa : Warrior Queen " , featuring master drummer Kofi Ghanaba and with a pan - African cast , toured the UK and Ghana in 2001 – 2001 . A radio drama by the same author was also serialized 13 – 17 October 2003 on BBC Radio Four ' s " Woman ' s Hour " .