Witnessing the frequent human sacrifices in Ashanti, the
Dutch were convinced that the Ashanti had vast manpower, some of which could be made available to the
Royal Dutch Army. On 18 March 1837, Kwaku Dua Panin signed an agreement with King
William I of the Netherlands to provide
Ashanti recruits, a thousand of whom would join the
Dutch East Indies Army within a year in exchange for guns.
Jacob Huydecoper, a
Gold Coast Euro-African from
Elmina, opened a recruitment agency in
Kumasi to this end. As recruitment was still supposed to be voluntary, slaves offered to the recruiting agent received an advance payment – ostensibly to purchase their freedom. As part of the deal, two Ashanti princes,
Kwasi Boachi—Kwaku Dua Panin's son—and Kwame Poku, were to be educated in the Netherlands. Boachi eventually graduated from the
Royal Academy of Delft and became the first black mining engineer in the Netherlands who would go on to have a distinguished career in the East Indies. In 1841, Kwaku Dua was presented with a
horse-drawn four wheeled
carriage by
Thomas Birch Freeman on behalf of the
Wesleyan Missionary Society. From 1841 to 1844, Kwaku Dua Panin fought against the
Gonja and
Dagomba to the north. In 1863, the Ashanti invaded territory to their south which was then under British protection, which soured relations with the British. Kwaku Dua Panin died suddenly on 24 April 1867; he was succeeded by
Kofi Karikari. Historian McCaskie writes that at the time of his death that year, the
Adaka Kesie (The
chest containing Ashanti's disposable currency reserves) was full with a value of nearly 180,000 mperedwan approximately
£1,440,000 in the 19th century.
Infrastructure projects Kwaku Dua organized the construction of new streets to replace the old narrow streets of Kumasi for the convenience of his carriage. In 1841, he ordered for the construction of proper bridges across the streams of the metropolitan area. Reconstruction of the
7th Great Road occurred from 1836—1838. In 1839, it was documented by Freeman that permanent camps of road labourers were supplied by the King in
Assin to maintain the 6th Great Road. == References ==