Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
THE exact date the Kingdom of Kubala relocated to a woodland in the Scottish Borders is not known, though some reports suggest it occurred during spring in the United Kingdom.
Before that, the kingdom was a nation on the move. Last year, for instance, it was located in a flat in Stockton-On-Tees, in County Durham, North East England.
While stationed there, the kingdom — made up of a population of three — often attracted its fair share of drama, which sometimes spilled into the public spotlight.
Despite this, the Kingdom of Kubala largely existed outside the prying eyes of the world, with its leader, 36-year-old Ghanaian Kofi Offeh, keeping a tight lid on some of its scandals.
This all changed when the kingdom migrated to the outskirts of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders. The move immediately triggered outrage from all quarters.
Consisting of Offeh (36), who calls himself King Atehene, his wife Jean Gasho (43) who calls herself Queen Nandi and their “handmaiden” Kaura Taylor (21) known as Asnat, the trio quickly courted the wrath of people across Scotland.
The group had previously been staying on private land but was evicted by sheriffs after legal action by the property owners.
This time, the kingdom did not move far, simply setting up a new camp on council property a few metres away when sheriff officers arrived.
After this, the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) began legal action to evict them.
It was during their legal battle with Scottish authorities that the kingdom became an international phenomenon, as cameras and microphones rushed to the Scottish wilderness to ferret them out.
After existing in relative anonymity for four years, the Kingdom of Kubala had finally joined the league of other nations and gone international.
But what is the Kingdom of Kubala?
Founded by Offeh, the Kingdom of Kubala is based on the concept of the Lost Tribe of Black Hebrew Israelites, which refers to various groups who claim African-Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites and are the true “lost tribes.”
These groups believe mainstream Jewish people are not the original Israelites and have developed unique interpretations of religious texts and history, often drawing inspiration from figures like Marcus Garvey.
Offeh and his motley crew of “Israelites” claim to worship Yahowa, which can refer to the name of God in some traditions, an alternative spelling for Yahweh or Jehovah.
When they settled in the forest, tucked away on the edge of an industrial estate in the Scottish borders, the trio said they were asserting their right to reclaim Scottish soil taken from their ancestors 400 years ago.
“I have come to reclaim my heritage and the lost land,” Offeh said when the media visited the bush-dwelling kingdom.
“The land and the earth belong to the creator of the heavens and the earth.”
His words angered some Scottish citizens.
Offeh and his wife, Gasho, are of Ghanaian and Zimbabwean descent.
At a time when xenophobic and racist sentiments are reportedly spreading in Scotland, the sight of two immigrant Africans making a land claim on Scottish soil caused an intense reaction.
As events unfolded in the forest of Jedburgh, Humza Yousaf — who became Scotland’s first Asian and Muslim minister in 2023 — commented that “intolerance” had permeated both the public and political space in the country.
“I have to say, in recent months and over the past couple of years, it is a feeling that the toxicity of the debate around immigration and multiculturalism has managed to find its way up here,” Yousaf said.
“Scotland, I am afraid, of course, is becoming more intolerant — both in the public space and frankly, I have seen some of that intolerance in the political space too.”
With the Scottish seemingly hardening their stance towards immigrants, the trio’s story was a powder keg in a highly charged environment.
Meanwhile, on social media, the kingdom grew in popularity, amassing over 100 000 followers on various platforms.
For some Africans, their antics were amusing, seen as a group hilariously turning the tables on erstwhile colonisers. In Zimbabwe, where Gasho hails from, Scots like one-time Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith were prominent leaders during the colonial era.
The colorful life of Jean Gasho
While Offeh is the leader of the Kingdom of Kubala, some claim that Gasho is the brains behind the rise of this unlikely nation.
By all indications, Gasho, who claims to have migrated from Zimbabwe at age 17, has had a troubled life.
In 2023, the mother of seven outlined her vision for the kingdom, claiming that African people were asleep and not ready to claim their heritage.
“Our vision in the Northern Kingdom, led by my Lord Husband Atehene, is to build a self-sufficient community for black people where we will not need anything at all from the White, Asian or Arab people,” she said.
Gasho, who claims she no longer has any relationship with her family members, including her brother and mother, has no qualms about sharing her husband with another woman.
In 2019, she wrote a lengthy article, advertising her husband’s desire to take a second wife.
“You have to be between 25 and 35 years of age,” she advised prospective candidates.
“If you are a single mother, you have to have a minimum of two children. You have to be able to provide for yourself financially. He will take care of your emotional, social and conjugal needs.
“He will take away your reproach as a single black woman. He will treat you like a queen and make you laugh till you cry. He cooks very delicious Ghanaian cuisine.
“He has the most powerful, beautiful singing voice… He will literally bathe and massage you; he is a Song of Solomon kind of lover like that.”
Trouble in paradise
Recently, it has not been smooth sailing in the Kingdom of Kubala.
On 2 October, officers from Immigration Enforcement and Police Scotland swooped in to evict the trio and arrest Offeh and his handmaiden, Asnat, for violating immigration laws.
Gasho was the only one who was not arrested during an eviction that was met with cheers by landowners in the area.
The self-proclaimed Asnat’s mother, Melba Whitehead, has branded the tribe as a cult and claims her daughter has been “brainwashed” to live in the Scottish forest.
The 21-year-old was reported missing from Dallas, Texas, in May, but her family spotted a photo of her online, pictured with the couple in Scotland.
Whitehead claimed her daughter was 19 when she left her life in America for a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom.
Taylor had been living with one of her aunts when she got in touch with the kingdom in 2023 after a high school classmate informed her about their “Kingdom of Kubala” group on Facebook.
“She is totally brainwashed. This is a cult,” her mother told Sky News.
“The first thing a cult is known to do is separate you from those who love you… The difference is she is under someone else’s spell in another country.”
Asnat is not the first handmaiden to serve the kingdom.
Before her was another American, A’liya Johnson, who served the kingdom under the moniker Lady Safi. The 20-year-old left Oklahoma to become a so-called “handmaiden” to Offeh and is said to have conceived a child with him.
Gasho even shared a photo of Lady Safi cradling her belly and hailed the “royal baby” that the trio was expecting.
However, sometime in 2023, Lady Safi expressed dissatisfaction with what she called the tribe’s “false reality.”
Offeh responded with a terrifying on-camera curse.
“We are done. She will cry until she dies. If this doesn’t happen, there is no God in Kubala.”
Lady Safi would die a few months later after she was first hit by a car and then struck by a bus in her native Oklahoma.
Offeh, a onetime businessman and opera singer, has also been disowned by his family, who are reportedly devout Adventists.
“Today my Lord Husband has been disowned by his own family, from his sister to his brothers, because he refuses to leave his God YAHOWA in the midst of adversity,” Gasho wrote in a blog post in July.
“He was raised Seventh Day Adventist, which Atehene has proven with facts. SDA was built on the lies of Ellen G White, who was a Freemason. Sadly, my Lord Husband’s family has chosen Seventh Day Adventist over their own son.”
