Awansa Palace, Akyem Old Tafo

Awansa Palace is the traditional palace of the Omanhene of Akyem Tafo, Daasebre Adusei Peasah IV, in Akyem Old Tafo in the Abuakwa North Municipal District of Ghana's Eastern Region. It is also known as Awansa Ahenfie or the Tafo Awansa Palace, and the town of Akim Tafo itself carries the nickname "Tafo Awansa."

The palace is a seat of traditional authority and a working institution rather than a managed visitor attraction. Its documented role is as a venue for community and traditional events of the Akyem Tafo Traditional Area, including Ohum Festival celebrations and public gatherings convened by the Omanhene. An emergency community meeting of chiefs and residents was held in front of the palace to oppose a proposed mining concession by Parin Gold Limited, and a Mother's Day celebration for about 500 widows and widowers from Akyem Old Tafo and Akyem Anyinasin took place at the palace. On 18 December 2023, Baafuor Ekooba Gyasi was sworn in as Apagyahene for the Akyem Tafo Traditional Area at the palace.

For a visitor, the interest here is cultural and contextual rather than recreational. Old Tafo is described as the oldest town in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional area and as the home of the Ohum Festival, which is associated with the Ohum dua — a tree said to be more than 500 years old — and the Ohum shrine of the deity Agyempremu Kofi. The palace sits within that wider setting of living custom and observance.

The verified location is town-level only. Old Tafo is given coordinates of approximately 6.233, -0.400, with a separate Akim Tafo reference at about 6.22194, -0.36556; these are not a verified palace entrance. Old Tafo borders New Tafo, the site of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, and Osiem.

No visitor facilities, guided tours, ticketing, opening hours, or fees are documented. Because the palace functions as a traditional institution, any visit would depend on the customary protocols of the community rather than on a visitor service, and those arrangements are not recorded in the available sources.