What started as an ordinary suburban life for a couple from Ghana and Zimbabwe has now turned into a dramatic quest for land, power, and spiritual destiny.
Today, they call themselves King Atehene and Queen Nandi, rulers of a “lost African dynasty” who believe their kingdom rightfully extends into the forests of Scotland.
Kofi Offeh, 36, originally from Ghana, and his wife Jean Gasho, 43, from Zimbabwe, stunned locals when they pitched camp in woodland near Jedburgh.
They claimed the area was part of their “Kingdom of Kubala,” a land they say was stolen from their ancestors centuries ago.
Living as Royals in the Wilderness
Alongside them is their so-called handmaiden, 21-year-old American Kaura Taylor, who disappeared from Texas earlier this year with her one-year-old daughter.
The trio live off-grid, dressed in tribal robes and painted faces, performing rituals and cooking over fires in their makeshift woodland settlement.
Videos on social media show them chanting, dancing around flames, and worshipping in the forest.
To some, it looks like spiritual devotion. To others, it’s a bizarre turn in the couple’s turbulent past.
A Radical Transformation
It wasn’t always like this. Before their royal titles, the couple were living what looked like a normal suburban life—birthdays, family outings, property businesses.
But cracks began to show years ago.
Back in 2019, Jean published an online article about her husband seeking a second wife.
She even listed prices for women to apply—£500 for single mothers, £350 for single women, and free for virgins (provided their virginity was “medically proven”).
She insisted it wasn’t unusual: “I don’t mind sharing, my husband has enough love for everyone.”
She openly embraced polygamy, stating her husband could have more wives while she would welcome them as sisters, as long as they “knew their place.”
A Complicated Past
Jean’s story stretches far beyond Scotland. Born in Zimbabwe, she says she grew up the daughter of a wealthy and influential man.
After marrying against her father’s wishes, she was sent to the UK at 17 and eventually trained as a psychiatric nurse.
Kofi, meanwhile, once pursued dreams of becoming an opera singer, later dabbling in marketing and property.
Jean often boasted he owned “almost 20 properties,” including serviced apartments and Airbnbs.
Friends remember her as a hardworking mother who ran businesses and cared deeply for her children.
But things unraveled. By 2023, their property company collapsed, and their lifestyle shifted dramatically.
Jean lost custody of her eight children after battles with social services.
She accused authorities of “abducting” them and claimed one child was placed with a “gay white couple to punish her.”
Legal Battles and Accusations
The couple even faced child cruelty charges at Teesside Crown Court last year, but prosecutors dropped the case.
By then, they were living rough and moving from Newcastle parks to Scottish forests, re-emerging as self-declared royals on a mission.
In their eyes, Scotland—not Jerusalem—is the true biblical Zion.
They say Queen Elizabeth I expelled “black Jacobites” in 1596, and that Kofi is the Messiah, a descendant of King David, foretold to lead his people back after 400 years.
Building the “Kingdom of Kubala”
On social media, Jean calls her husband “the King of the North” and praises him as “the Holy seed of David.”
In one video, she fans him with a peacock feather while declaring the new world has begun.
Their settlement has faced setbacks—one camp was burned down—but they persist.
Locals have reportedly donated food, while Kofi often sits outside the Co-op supermarket using free Wi-Fi.
Jean recently celebrated receiving “Egyptian cotton pillows” for their tented bedchamber, calling it a blessing straight from God.
The Missing Handmaiden
Perhaps the most troubling twist involves Kaura Taylor, the American woman now living with them.
Relatives in Texas say she vanished in May with her baby, leaving behind her job and family.
UK authorities have since taken the child into care, but Kaura insists she is safe, happy, and not missing.
“Leave me alone,” she said in one video. “I am an adult, not a helpless child.”
What Drives Them
To their followers online, King Atehene and Queen Nandi are reclaiming history, fighting oppression, and living a divine prophecy.
To critics, they are troubled individuals who lost everything and reinvented themselves in a fantasy world.
Either way, their story is one of dramatic transformation—from property owners and parents to self-proclaimed royals, leading a wilderness kingdom in the forests of Scotland.
