Otoo further averred in Ofosu-Appiah (1977) that Kate Dawson was so rich that on another occasion she single-handedly bought off a threatened Asante invasion with the £486-worth of gold that they demanded.
The Asantehene threatened an attack on Cape Coast. As a single Fante State (Oguaa), it did not have the troops (numbers) and artillery to face a large force from the Asante so Kate decided to approach the Asantehen to negotiate a payoff to avert the attack. Nana Kofi Karikari, the Asantehen insisted he needed only gold because it was only gold that would satisfy him. The greedy Nana Kofi Karikari was obsessed with gold. Kate Dawson paid him off to stop the invasion. The Asantehene was in shock and awe because had never seen so much Gold as what Efua Ketse gave him. He was amazed at the wealth and opulence of Efua Ketse.
Her action on that occasion won her the title of “Ebum,” meaning “The Breaker of the Asantehene`s Mighty Balance,” since nobody had expected such a large amount of gold to be owned by one person, and most interestingly, a woman.
The Asante King came again in 1873 because he became greedy and wanted more gold. Kate said NO! She decided to rather fund a war against Asante this time around.
When Kofi Karikari received no gold from Kate Dawson, he sent his troops to invade Cape Coast. His army promised him two things. To break the Cape Coast Castle and return all the blocks to Kumasi and annihilate every living Fante soul from the face of the earth.
To their surprise and dismay, the Fante States had united under the command of the Abura King and defended the Fante territories valiantly even as far as Jukwa in Denkyira. The Asantes lost 20,000 men in their expedition to the coast and in defeat, they withdrew their forces back to Kumasi.
In this war in 1873 which we like to call The Abakrampa War, Cape Coast had the cover of some British artillery but the rest of the Fante states had to fund and defend the entire Fante nation under the command of Amfo Otu I.
But something else was brewing in Cape Coast. When, in 1873, the Asante again threatened to invade Cape Coast and actually marched towards Fanteland, Kate Efua Ketse Dawson and seven strong prominent Fante ladies urged the governor of the day to help the citizens of Cape Coast, and offered to pay for a military expedition against the Asante. This led to the expedition against Asante in the Sagrenti War of 1874, described by G. A. Henty in “The March to Coomassie (1874).” The Sagrenti war of 1874 was planned and financed by Kate Efua Dawson and 7 powerful Fante women. This brought an end to the Ashanti Empire.
The fort known as Dawson Hill was named after Kate Dawson’s father, Mr. Dawson.
