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ABSTRACT
Chieftaincy conflicts are important political processes in a number of African countries. So far, much of the research on the topic has been grounded in Relative Deprivation Theory (RDT). Offering an alternative theoretical lens to explain chieftaincy conflict, this article draws on historical institutionalism and, in a more systematic way, on the concepts of critical junctures and path dependence, to explain the nature of the Ga Mashie chieftaincy conflict during Ghana’s Fourth Republic (1993–present). Grounded in a qualitative case study method and drawing on original interview data, the article argues that the imposition of colonial and postcolonial political structures with no roots in precolonial political offices has led to conflicting interpretations of who the rightful successor to the Ga Mashie throne is. Contested versions of the customs and traditions of the Ga people, with particular reference to succession, exist, leading to ongoing chieftaincy conflict.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Rachel Hatcher for her editorial suggestions and Donald Ray, Maureen Hiebert, Roberta Rice, & Linda Kreitzer for their advice. Daniel Béland acknowledges support from the Canada Research Chairs Program.
Notes on Contributors
Paul Acheampong Boakye is a PhD candidate at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan. He holds MPhil and MA in Political Science from the University of Ghana and Calgary respectively. His current research focuses on the role of traditional authorities in Ghanaian social policy.
Daniel Béland is professor and Canada Research Chair in Public Policy at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. A specialist of fiscal and social policy, he has published 17 books and more than 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals. In January 2019, he becomes director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and professor of Political Science at McGill University.
Glossary
| We | = | Ga word for family or ruling house |
| Asafo | = | the military organisation of the Akan and Ga peoples |
| Asantehene | = | king of the Asante |
| Dzase | = | Ga kingmakers |
| Dzasetse | = | head of the kingmakers |
| Manbii | = | the people |
| Mantse | = | Ga name for a chief or king |
| Mantsemei | = | the plural of mantse, meaning chiefs |
| Naa | = | title of a Ga queen; also used as the title for a king in some parts of northern Ghana |
| Nii | = | title of a Ga king |
| Wulomo | = | chief priest |
| Wulomei | = | the plural if wulomo, meaning chief priests |
Notes
1. As Kwame Ninsin notes, conflict is a ‘situation by which the aggrieved seek to attain their rights and privileges’ (Citation1995: 50) or correct what they perceive to be incorrect.
2. The stool is the symbol of the soul of the chief who sits on it and the nation. Only the rightful chief is allowed to sit on it. Each stool is made from a single block of wood of the Alstonia boonei tree, a tall forest tree with numinous associations. The stool is carved with a crescent-shaped seat, flat base and complex support structure. Each stool is unique with different designs and meanings.
3. This means a case is bounded by time and place.
4. Some of the concepts that were generated to explain the Ga Mashie chieftaincy conflict included colonial policies, political interference, greed, distortion of tradition, lack of succession planning, and lack of documentation.
5. The seven Ga quarters (groups) were sovereign and independent of each other prior to colonialism.
6. The Akans are the most populated ethnic group in Ghana and include about 15 different groups (for example Asante, Akyem, Fante, Akwamu, Nzema, Sehwi, etc). Their population is estimated to be about 47.5 per cent of Ghana’s national population.
7. Fante & Akwamu are ethnic groups within the larger Akan ethnic group.
8. The Akummadzei were mainly descendants of Dode Okaibi, who lived peacefully with the Akwamu on a hill called Nyanyao. This may be the reason why the Akummadzie never had a stool of their own because they were under the Akwamu prior to the formation of the Ga homeland in the 15th century.
9. The Akummadzei group learnt war from the Akwamu people and, thus were seen to be under the chief of the Akwamu people
10. Each Ga town had a god they worshiped. The god of the Sakumono town was seen to be the senior god of all the gods of the Ga towns.
11. The Asere Mantse was the eldest of the seven-quarter mantse.
12. This quarter is largely inhabited by immigrants from Akwamu and Fante who practice maternal inheritance.
13. The term ‘destoolment’ emanates from the term ‘stool’. Therefore, to be destooled is to be dethroned or removed from office as a chief.
14. Then La Mantse and Acting Ga Mantse.
15. The then dzasetse, Nii Teiko Abonua II, supported the installation of EN Lomoko as the Ga Mantse.
16. The name Lamtey Sempe is not one of the royal names of the Ga people, meaning that anyone with that name could not ascend the Ga Mashie throne.
17. Suit No GARHC/P4/2007.