At first glance, it breaks down into “Mfantsi”, an allusion to the Fantes, and “-pim”, meaning “thousand”. Thus, most argue that the school’s name means “Thousands of Fantes”.
However, it is more than that.
The Fante nationalists, who founded the Fanti Public School Ltd and the Mfantsipim of 1905, were all members of the “Mfantse Amanbuhu Fekuw”, a Fante Nationalist Society. This is the same group from which the Aborigines Rights Protection Society emerged. This was a time of great nationalist fervor – the group had gotten the Lands Bill of 1897 quashed. Education became their next priority.
Moreover, there was a massive push to abandon the European habits most had learned from the colonialists and to return to Fante ways and traditions. This was known as the “Gone Fante” movement.
So, these nationalists wanted to revive Fante beliefs and foster growth through education. They needed a center where change could grow and a name that expressed these beliefs.
As Bartels notes in his memoirs titled “The Persistence of Paradox,” the new name aimed to express the Fante people’s spirit.
Bartels cites two Fante proverbs that help to explain the thought process behind the creation of the name. The first is “Ɔman si hɔ a na posuban si mu”. That means “it is only a viable nation that has its own fetish grove”. The second is, “Ɔman Biara hia posuban” to wit, “every nation needs a fetish grove where the spirit or soul of the nation resides”.
The name ‘Mfantsipim’ was chosen to represent this dream. While ‘Mfantsipim’ literally translates to ‘a thousand Fantes’, in context it means ‘many’ or ‘masses.’ The name was meant to symbolize a ‘posuban’—a sacred place—where these masses would gather, enabling the spirit of the Fante people to flourish. Not through spookism but through discipline, sacrifice, service and above all, education.
Thus, the foundation of Mfantsipim was seen not simply as a school for the Fantes but as the starting point of a wider cultural renaissance for the Gold Coast.
And so, when Rev. Bartrop asked Mensah Sarbah to merge Mfantsipim with the Collegiate School in 1905 and thus continue the traditions set forth by the founders in 1876, even though the latter agreed to the merger, it was done on his terms. The amalgamated institutions were to carry the name “Mfantsipim”, adopt the motto “Dwen Hwɛ Kan”, and retain the crest designed by Johnson B. Essuman Gwira.
The school may have had its origins in the Wesleyan tradition and a Wesleyan Mission House, but in becoming “Mfantsipim,” it became a sacred place where the spirit of the people of the Gold Coast would reside. A spirit of thoughtfulness, foresight, leadership, education, sacrifice, and service.