Kwadwo Egyir, later renamed Brempong Kojo (meaning distinguished Kojo) and later Europeanized as Caboceer Cudjo (meaning chief Cudjo), was born around 1700 in Ekumfi in a Fante chiefdom on the Gold Coast, the village being located in what is now the Ekumfi district of Ghana, and died on March 24, 1779, in Cape Coast.

He created and structured the Oguaa State of Cape Coast, and contributed to the expansion of the British colony through diplomatic and military missions.

He bequeathed to posterity the foundations of the future Fante confederation and contributed to the development of Cape Coast, the British colonial capital, which in fifty years became the second largest coastal city after Elmina.

However, this kingdom was dismantled after a defeat in 1720 against the first Fante confederation, allowing the emergence of several small states, such as Oguaa, which appointed a Cape Coast king.

[citation needed] This shift in authority was not a recent phenomenon, however, since it had already begun at the end of the seventeenth century, in 1694, with the first secession, during which a pro-British coalition supported several small Efutu states.

[1] The British sought to strengthen their influence in African interstate politics by associating themselves with these caboceers and supporting their installation as local rulers.

His mother is said to have sought financial assistance from the Oguaahene Egyir Panyin (Oguaa chief of Cape Coast) in order to divorce her husband.

Brempong is a Cape Coast honorific title recorded at the end of the 16th century by Pieter de Marees and confirmed in 1660 by W.J.

According to Pieter de Marees, this title designated a gentleman or a great lord, while Müller translated it as "rich distinguished man".

This information, combined with oral tradition and the testimony of Thomas Thompson, the first Anglican missionary to the Gold Coast, shed light on his activities before joining British officials.

[citation needed] In the 1730s or 1740s, he established himself as an influential caboceer who acted as a slave broker on behalf of the Royal African Company (RAC).

He appears as early as 1728 in the account books of the Cape Coast Castle, where he was initially paid as an extraordinary messenger and translator.

[citation needed] He received a fortnightly salary of £7 during his first years on the job, and was able to collect a tax on the sales he concluded on behalf of the Company.

[citation needed] In his testimony, Thomas Thompson stated that in 1752 he was welcomed by the Omanhene (chief) of Cape Coast, named Amrah Coffi, who was Kwadwo's younger brother.

[3] Indeed, Kwadwo seemed interested in Thomas Thompson's missionary activities, and this connection enabled him to send three Cape Coast children to London for their education.

[citation needed] In 1754, Kwadwo was crowned King of Efutu and Cape Coast in the presence of Governor Tymewell and officials from the fort.

His influence coincided with the emergence of another coastal state, Anomabu, led by Currantee: the two men regularly joined forces to pursue a joint policy against the Dutch West India Company.

[citation needed] Currantee's and Kwadwo's backgrounds were very similar, and they were presented by contemporaries such as Thomas Thompson as the two most important personalities on the Central Gold Coast in the early 1750s.

[3][n 5] In November 1751, Kwadwo appointed his son Frederick Aday (or Adoy) as his successor on the Cape Coast Fort Council and sent him to London to studyunder a certain Temple Territory.

Contrary to the hopes of the United Society Partners in the Gospel, and despite his promise, Kwadwo refused to support his son in his actions and sided with the population, who wished to preserve their customs and beliefs.

[5] Faced with this about-turn, Quaque expressed his displeasure in a letter:[7] To keep me quiet, Cudjo claimed that the visionary dream he'd had some time before, when he was seriously ill, had ordered him to get rid of all these sorts of things, except for taking care of his house and family.Kwadwo died on March 24, 1779.

It is complex to establish with certainty which Omanhene (king according to Akan tradition) was the supreme ruler of Cape Coast during this period.

As a result, during Kwadwo's presence, the Cape Coast's female elite was prized by the African Company of Merchants established in 1750 by the British Parliament.

[10] The recognition of their high rank enabled them to acquire luxury goods, textiles from India and other products obtained as gifts from the African Committee.