In desperate need of more soldiers for its colony in the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands was now looking to its African colonies for new recruits. One of them, the son of Kwamena and Ekoerva, is known to us only by the Dutch name ‘Kees Pop’, which was forced upon him when he joined the army. He went on to fight for 12 years during the Aceh war in the Dutch East Indies. After his service term, Pop was taken back to Harderwijk along with fellow KNIL soldiers. He arrived wounded, and in 1882 the artist Isaac Israels painted a portrait of him with medals on his chest and still wearing a sling. Pop returned to Elmina soon afterwards.
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