African ‘king' who claims to be Jewish messiah evicted from Scottish camp
Kofi Offeh, a Ghanaian former opera singer, claims to be king of a lost tribe descended from the Bible's King David.
The 36-year-old set up tents with his Zimbabwean wife in woodland near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders earlier this year.
But the couple and a female companion, Kaura Taylor, have now been evicted by the local council.
'The Kingdom of Kubala has suffered trials and tribulations at the hands of authorities, who do not understand or tolerate,' said Mr Offeh, who goes by the title 'King Atehene'.
'But the Kingdom of Kubala cannot be destroyed, for we are helped by the creator of the heavens and the earth, our God. Until then, no one will be able to destroy the Kingdom of Kubala.
'We follow the laws of the creator. Everything belongs to the ones who made it. We do not believe that any authority owns the land. The earth belongs to the father.'
Jean Gasho, Mr Offeh's wife and mother of seven, said the trio were descendants of indigenous black people in Scotland who were 'deported' by Elizabeth I for being Jacobites.
'We are the Lost Tribes of Hebrews and have returned to claim Scotland as our homeland, a land stolen by Elizabeth the first 400 years ago when she deported all black people from Scotland and England, who were not Africans but natives of the land,' said the 43-year-old, who is known as 'Queen Nandi'.
'Jacobites were black, from their ancestor Jacob, Yacobho, a black man. According to our Prophet Atehene, Jerusalem is in Scotland, and that he is the seed and offspring of David, the Messiah.
'The old world is going, the Second Exodus has begun, only those who live off grid, in Tabernacles will be saved, as we enter the Millennium Kingdom of Kubala, and the world is left behind.'
In a video on Facebook, Ms Gasho fans Mr Offeh with a peacock feather while saying: 'All hail the King of the North, all hail the Messiah.'
In another post, Mr Offeh is seen being given an 'offering' of Irn Bru and shortbread fingers by Ms Taylor.
Ms Taylor, who calls herself Asnat, is an American woman who was reported missing by her family in Texas.
'To the UK authorities, I am not missing,' she said online. 'Leave me alone. I am an adult not a helpless child.'
Mr Offeh and Ms Gasho were previously charged with child cruelty and were due to appear at Teesside Crown Court earlier this year. They denied the offences, which were later dropped.
In online posts, Ms Gasho has claimed that the charges were orchestrated in an attempt to protect the King's Coronation in 2023.
The couple also claimed the first camp they set up in the Jedburgh woods was 'burned to ashes' by unknown assailants.
Mr Offeh added: 'We live a very simple life of returning to innocence. We connect to nature. We connect to the trees around us. We get grounded every morning. We bathe in the springwater.
'We are living a simple life of relying daily on the creator for food, shelter and clothing. We live in a tent without walls, but we are not afraid of anyone, for we have the protection of the creator, Yahowah.
A spokesman for Scottish Borders council said: 'We have been working with Police Scotland in relation to an illegal encampment by three occupants on council-owned property at Hartrigge near Jedburgh.
'This has included the provision of advice and information about housing options and other support services.
'A notice to eject was served by sheriff officers following which the group vacated the site. The site itself has since been cleared.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
King Charles and Queen Camilla delight royals fans as they share sweet family photographs of their holidays at Balmoral Castle
As King Charles begins his annual summer residency in Balmoral Castle, the Royal Family 's official Instagram account has shared a series of throwback photographs to reminisce on the tradition. The monarch marked the start of his holiday in Scotland with a military ceremony on Monday 18 August, and was officially welcomed by a Guard of Honour held by Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS). Balmoral Castle, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has belonged to the Royal Family since 1852, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert acquired the estate and the surrounding grounds. The Royal Family's social media post included black-and-white snaps of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their children when they were very young, as well as more recent pictures of King Charles and Queen Camilla. The first photograph in the set showed Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip standing on garden steps with a young Charles and Anne standing on either side of them. Another black-and-white image in the series gave fans a glimpse at how playful the royal couple were with their children, as it showed Philip pushing Charles and Anne on a swing, the pair stacked on top of one another, as the Queen watched while petting one of her dogs. There was plenty of fun to be had on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, as illustrated by a later photo of Charles and Anne as slightly older children, playing see-saw with a plank of wood and a log. There is also a colour photograph of the Queen and Philip in their golden years, Her late Majesty dressed comfortably in a blue collared blouse and blue cardigan with a tartan skirt and her signature black handbag, while the then-Duke of Edinburgh wore a green-hued tweed suit and a red patterned tie. The set also included a picture of King Charles and Queen Camilla, in which the King is out of focus and smiling at something off-camera, while Camilla is smiling directly at the camera while wearing a red beret with jaunty feathers and a pink coat with a tartan collar. One black-and-white photo showed three generations of the Royal Family - King George VI and the Queen Mother, alongside Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, and Philip, a young Charles and tiny baby Anne in her pram. Fans were also treated to a candid photo of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip sitting on a sofa with one of their many dogs. The final photo in the series was of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne, who appeared to be bonding over their love for horses as they tended to the reigns of one of their animals together. In the caption, the Royal Family wrote: 'For almost two centuries, members of the Royal Family have spent their summers on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland. 'This tradition began in 1852 when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert acquired Balmoral Castle. 'Since then, the castle and its grounds in the Scottish Highlands have provided the setting for many private and official family moments and have cemented the family's affection for Scotland and its people.' Interspersed between the family photos paintings and engravings of Balmoral Castle and its grounds, which showed the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and the grandeur of the estate. Royals fans gushed over the photographs, describing the memories as 'beautiful'. 'Little Princess Anne had the most precious blonde curls!' one person wrote of the young Princess Royal. 'The King and the Princess Royal are just adorable in these pictures! So cute!' another commented. A third added: 'Looks so so beautiful, and I'm sure there are so many great summer memories,' another person commented. Balmoral was a favourite place of the late Queen Elizabeth and her husband, as it was a place where they could enjoy family time, relaxed holidays and the stunning landscape that their 50,000 acres offered them. It was where she spent her final days before her death on September 8 2022, aged 96. In the BBC's A Tribute To Her Majesty The Queen, Princess Anne recalled the wonderful holidays they had in Balmoral, explaining that it was partly because the estate comprised all the things that the Queen enjoyed, including 'the countryside, the dogs, the horses and just being out and about and being able to get away a bit from that public gaze'.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Not just Braveheart: black Scots become TikTok hit among African Americans
It began with a good-natured rant about the Scottish summer weather and has developed into a global conversation about history, diaspora and diversity on both sides of the Atlantic. Last week, Torgi Squire uploaded a TikTok post that any Scottish parent could relate to: why is it, he asked, that without fail the washout summer weather always improves the week that the kids go back to school? The 43-year-old high school teacher from Glasgow ended with his usual sign-off, wishing everyone 'a belter of a day', and thought nothing more of it. The internet had other ideas. The post was picked up by a US weather reporter and Squire's comments were suddenly filling with African Americans expressing their amazement and delight at discovering a black man with a strong Scottish accent. But it didn't stop there: black Scots on TikTok found themselves flooded with questions from their American cousins and seized the opportunity to respond with high calibre banter, as #blackscottishtiktok generated thousands more posts. 'It's been a whirlwind,' says Squire, who teaches design and technology. His original post has racked up nearly 4m views, and he's since welcomed more than 200,000 new followers. 'Americans are kept in a bit of an echo chamber by their media, and their only point of reference for Scotland is either Braveheart, Brave or Shrek. They don't seem to have much awareness of the diaspora, particularly when it comes to the UK, which is maybe why they've reacted with so much curiosity. 'But it's not just Americans. I've had comments from people in England too, so there's still surprise at a black person with a Scottish accent on both sides of the Atlantic.' Scotland is certainly more diverse than when he was growing up in the 1980s – 'of the 1,400 kids at my secondary school, only four were black and three of them were related to me'. 'In my experience Scotland is a welcoming place and while there is still racism, it's isolated and Scottish people are very good at calling it out. Perhaps because there are far fewer black people than somewhere like America, we tend to treat each other more like community.' When Ellie Koepplinger, who posts about race and politics on TikTok, saw the initial interest in Squire's content, she thought: 'This is going to be huge.' 'Then other black Scottish people started to chime in and it was really exciting.' Koepplinger, who grew up in Glasgow and lived in the US for nine years, added her own post about being mixed heritage in Scotland: 'It feels like finally people are understanding that we have our own racial politics.' But the interest from across the Atlantic has a more practical edge, she suggests: 'Trump has made America so hostile to black people that having so many people talking about their positive experience in Scotland has got a huge amount of interest from people who are really keen to leave the States.' The flurry of content has also prompted some fruitful conversations among black Scots themselves, she adds. 'It's been really interesting to hear other Scottish people talk about the racism and the challenges they've experienced in Scotland. The black community in Scotland is fairly fragmented because it's small, but it's a population that's excited to grow.' Manny Daphey, a 20-year-old student, soon found his own content getting pushed by the TikTok algorithm, doubling his following as Americans flocked to his videos. 'I was pretty blown by surprise, suddenly everyone was interacting and it felt like speaking to my long-lost cousins.' A few negative comments have been vastly outweighed by a barrage of positivity, he says: 'Lots of Americans are very intrigued about living in Scotland, saying they want to visit.' Perhaps inevitably, there are also some women who appreciate a handsome face with a Scottish accent. American women can be 'very direct' he says. When Roy Wood Jr, comedian and host of CNN's Have I Got News For You US, arrived in Edinburgh a few days ago, he was ready to take in some shows at the festival. Instead, he's been diverted on to a TikTok odyssey, travelling across the central belt to interview black Scots and prove to his fellow Americans they do indeed exist. In one of his posts Wood makes the point that part of the reason why black Americans don't know about black Scots is because their schools 'barely teach them about black people in America'. 'People can laugh about dumb Americans not knowing there are black people in Scotland but this tells us a lot about the differences between education systems and what governments define as history.' In his interviews with Scottish creators, Wood says a common thread is the sense that black Scots are suddenly able to connect online in a way that wasn't so familiar in the real world. 'Coming from the States, I found there's no black neighbourhood, no exclusive cultural enclave for black people in Scotland, so there was a common feeling of 'now we've found each other'.' Wood tracked down Squire in Glasgow and the pair made a post together. 'It's an opportunity for black people across the whole diaspora to converse with one another.' 'The conversations I've had in the past week have really enriched my life,' adds Squire. 'It makes me happy that people are coming together.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Emily Atack shares behind-the-scenes secrets of her eye-popping naked scenes in Rivals as actress admits she 'is completely like' her character
Emily Atack has revealed exactly how she braved stripping off for the cameras for acclaimed raunchy drama Rivals as she shared behind-the-scenes details on Wednesday. The actress, 35, left little to the imagination when she stepped into the role of Sarah Stratton for the Disney series, which is based on Dame Jilly Cooper's best-selling novel of the same name. Viewers watched as Emily stripped completely naked for a daring game of tennis, before attempting to hide her modesty after being caught. While the eye-popping scenes left fans stunned, Atack has revealed it was easy to play the liberated character as she declared: 'I am her.' Speaking at this year's Edinburgh TV Festival, Emily confessed: 'I've been typecast my whole life, and I've loved every single minute of it. I will carry on playing sexy women for as long as they will have me.' She continued: 'I just wasn't afraid to identify with her. I completely am her. I'm a very flawed woman. I've made terrible decisions in my love life. 'I used all of that completely. It was completely genuine. 'Finally, these so-called demonized women, they're not being celebrated for that behaviour but they're being understood better.' Rivals saw her character married to fictional MP Paul Stratton, though she embarks on a lustuous affair with heartthrob Rupert Campbell-Black, who is played by Alex Hassell. While Alex, 44, decided not to use a prosthetic penis for the sexy scenes with Emily, as he said author Jilly, 88, made Rupert so well endowed that 'he could bat bread rolls across the room'. However, Emily admitted she did take up the wardrobe department's offer of assistance in preparing for the shoot. She said: 'I had a stick-on muff. I had to have a merkin, that's what it is called. I had all these fittings for this merkin. It had to be like a proper eighties bush. 'That kind of helped [doing the nude scene] because it felt like I had big furry knickers on. 'At first it was really jarring seeing myself naked on scene. But then sort of once I'd seen it, I was like "oh fine". I couldn't put my clothes back on. I was running around that tennis court. They were like: 'Emily, can you put your clothes on now?'' Alex Hassell (pictured) who plays Rupert, decided not to use a prosthetic penis for the sexy scenes with Emily, as he said author Jilly, 88, made Rupert so well endowed that 'he could bat bread rolls across the room' Emily has had a rollercoaster love life with exes including singer Harry Styles, and models Jude Taylor and Jack Vacher. She has now settled down with nuclear scientist Dr Alistair Garner and the pair welcomed their first child, son Barney, in June last year. Filming for the second instalment of Rivals began in May, with the cast all reprising their roles for the next batch of episodes alongside new faces. Streaming giant Disney revealed on Wednesday that actors Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett have signed up to the show. They will be starring as Helen Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black's ex-wife, and show-jumping coach Malise Gordon. Also joining the ensemble are Maxim Ays, Holly Cattle, Oliver Dench, Amanda Lawrence, Bobby Lockwood, Eliot Salt and Jonny Weldon. Meanwhile, Danny Dyer revealed there is so much bonking in the second series that bosses had to hire every intimacy coordinator in the UK. In the show, Danny played self-made businessman Freddie Jones who goes into business with Rupert and Declan O'Hara played by Aidan Turner.
