Yaa Asantewaa Museum

The Yaa Asantewaa Museum in Ejisu, in Ghana's Ashanti Region, is a museum dedicated to Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu, who led Ashanti resistance against British colonial rule in the War of the Golden Stool of 1900–1901. It is recorded as a museum, cultural site and heritage site, and it sits within Ejisu Municipal District, also cited as Ejisu-Juaben Municipal District, near Regional Road 104.

Accounts of the museum's origins differ. English Wikipedia states it was established in 2000 to mark the centenary of the Yaa Asantewaa War, intending to recreate a typical Asante royal residence of about 1900, at her graveside in Besease, her hometown. Wikimedia Commons describes the Nana Yaa Asantewaa Museum in Ejisu as formerly her residential building, established in 1992 after the former building was burnt down, with maintenance accomplished mainly through donations from the USA and UK and a rebuilding planned. Aroundus.com also gives 1992. The founding date should therefore be treated as disputed rather than settled.

The site's recent history is unsettled. In 2004 the museum was gutted by fire; most relics inside were destroyed and only a few clay pots remained, and tourism in the area decreased significantly. In October 2009 local leaders expressed a desire to refurbish it. In 2016 UNICEF agreed to contribute US$10 million towards reconstruction on a 14-acre plot, with the Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal Assembly tasked to spearhead it, but reconstruction stalled. In February 2024 the Asantehene pledged a new heritage museum, to be called the Yaa Asantewaa Memorial Heritage Museum, with construction to be led from March 2024.

For visitors, the practical picture is uncertain. A booking site lists the museum as temporarily closed with opening hours to be determined, while a separate site associated with the museum advertises tours and opening hours. Because these sources conflict and no official confirmation is available here, opening hours, admission fees, guided-tour availability and current access should be confirmed locally before travelling. The museum's collection has been described as objects, photographs and documents documenting Ashanti Kingdom heritage, with rooms presenting aspects of life and society in the culture, and guided tours arrangeable with advance planning — but this description predates or does not account for the 2004 fire, so what is currently on display cannot be stated with confidence.