Kumasi Fort and Military Museum

The Kumasi Fort and Military Museum, also known as the Ghana Armed Forces Museum, is a fort and museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region. It stands within the Uaddara Barracks, and is also listed at Stewart Avenue. The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board describes it as one of the few military museums in Africa. The Prempeh Museum, Kumasi Cultural Centre, Kumasi Zoo and Kumasi Central Market are all within walking distance of the fort.

The fort was first built in 1820 by Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwamina to resemble the coastal forts built by European merchants; granite and brown soil were carried from Cape Coast to Kumasi by porters. It was destroyed by British forces in 1874 and rebuilt in 1897. In March 1900, during the Asante Rebellion led by Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa of Ejisu, 29 Britons were besieged inside for several weeks. Yaa Asantewaa was later imprisoned in the fort and exiled to the Seychelles. From 1952 to 1953, after the Second World War, the British colonial Armed Forces took over the fort and converted it into a museum.

For a visitor, the interest lies in that combination: a fort whose fabric carries the Anglo-Asante wars, and a collection that continues the story into the twentieth century. Exhibits include weapons, medals, colours, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns, cannons, maps, photographs and portraits relating to the Anglo-Asante wars and the World Wars, tracing the Gold Coast Regiment's evolution into the present-day Ghana Armed Forces. Guided tours are available. A British Military Cemetery about 200m northwest holds graves of British casualties of the Yaa Asantewaa War.

The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 8:00am to 5:00pm, and is closed on Sundays and public holidays. The operator's own site publishes no dedicated phone number or email for the Kumasi site; the contact details it does give belong to the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board head office in Accra. Coordinates recorded for the site are feature coordinates and may not mark the visitor entrance, so it is worth confirming the entry point at the barracks before travelling.