I Swapped My Jeans For Kente At Manhyia- Idris Elba

 

Actor Idris Elba has opened up about his experience at the recent Akwasidae festival in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

According to him, he was in Ghana to film a documentary about gold when he was invited to the festival by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

He showed up at the festival in his jeans and a shirt but he was told his outfit was inappropriate for the occasion.

He, therefore, had to change into kente cloth and some gold-plated accessories made for royalties.

The English actor of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonian parentage was speaking on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“So I showed up in my jeans and they say, no no no.

You have to wear this (kente) and that was the outfit. It was a really fascinating day. I mean it was beautiful. The tradition was rich and this is a kente outfit…it is a system so when you meet the king, you’ll have to drop the shoulder down a little and shake the king…it is sort of respect…it was actually a really beautiful time,” he disclosed.

“While I was there in the Asante Kingdom, which is in Kumasi, the Asante king said hey, I am a big fan and I want you to come to my yearly possession where I meet all of my kingdoms which is a very big, vast kingdom,” he added.
Elba has been to Ghana a couple of times. This included filming Beasts of No Nation in Ghana.