In 2008, she began living in two different worlds. Peggielene Bartels became the first female King of Otuam, a small fishing coastal community in the West African nation of Ghana, while working as a secretary in the United States, typing circulars, booking appointments, and answering phone calls.
According to CNN, when her uncle died, she inherited the mantle of authority. Her acceptance required her to balance the two roles by attending to administrative duties at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington, D.C. every day and dedicating one month to visit Otuam to adjudicate people and community issues.
In 2013, she told CNN that her day begins in the morning with phone calls to the elders and regent of Otuam to find out what’s going on. She also assigns tasks that must be completed. Before becoming King of Otuam, Bartels worked as a secretary for more than 30 years.
She claimed she was ushered into the throne after receiving a call from her cousin from Otuam in 2008. He called to congratulate her on becoming the area’s new king. She initially thought it was a prank pulled by her cousin, but what she thought was a fairytale turned out to be true.
When Bartels recovered from her shock, she accepted the authority bestowed upon her to oversee a community of approximately 7,000 people. She had never imagined herself ascending to the throne of Otuam. She had been in the United States since she was in her early twenties. She saw her new position as a calling to help improve the lives of the people in her motherland.
Bartels was born in Ghana’s Takoradi in 1953. She received her education in England before moving to the United States, where she became an American citizen in 1997. She recently stated that while in America, she does everything from cooking to laundry, but in Ghana, she is held in high regard, protected, pampered, and does nothing on her own.