A white Victorian building standing inside Fort George above Port of Spain carries an unexpected connection between Trinidad and the Ashanti royal family of West Africa.
The signal station was designed and built under the direction of Prince Kofi Ntim, also known as William Kofi Nti. The National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago identifies him as a son of King Karikari, a ruler of the Ashanti Kingdom in what is now Ghana.
Kofi Ntim came to Trinidad after the nineteenth-century wars between Britain and the Ashanti Kingdom. The National Trust says two royal sons were sent to England for education after the 1874 Treaty of Fomena. Kofi Ntim later studied and worked in Trinidad, where his skills became part of the island’s military communications system.
Fort George itself had been developed from 1804 under British Governor Sir Thomas Hislop. Enslaved labourers helped construct the wider network of fortifications overlooking the Gulf of Paria. Although the position was considered formidable, it never saw military action and ceased operating as a military establishment in 1846.
The hill remained useful as a lookout. Around 1883, Kofi Ntim designed the decorative signal station for communication with the port and army. The National Trust says he embossed his initials, W.K.N., on the structure, although later rehabilitation removed them.
The station continued operating until November 1964, two years after Trinidad and Tobago gained independence. A major restoration followed in 1965.
Its architecture contrasts sharply with the heavy stone batteries and cannons around it. That contrast helps reveal how the site changed from a defensive fort into a communications post and, eventually, a heritage attraction.
Kofi Ntim’s role also complicates a simple colonial account of Fort George. The building links a British military site in Trinidad to Ashanti resistance, royal diplomacy, forced political arrangements and the movement of knowledge across the Atlantic.
The signal station still overlooks Port of Spain, preserving the work of an African prince whose contribution became a lasting part of Trinidad’s built heritage.