Chieftaincy, Development and the Ghanaian State: A Historical Overview of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Abstract

This multi-sourced paper explores the relationship between the chieftaincy institution and the Ghanaian state in the 19th and 20th centuries. It specifically looks at how the relationship between the two has evolved in the overlapping political and economic spheres and how the metamorphosing conceptualization of development on both sides fits into it. Using mainly Asante references,1 this paper argues that the relationship between the state (colonial and post-colonial) and chieftaincy in both spheres has been determined by the policies of the former to either court or curtail the power of the latter when it suits its politics. Chiefs on the other hand, recognizing the nature of this relationship, have skilfully played a “survival politics” strategy in order to remain relevant in the economic and political spheres. This strategy in recent years includes (re)identifying itself with prevailing concepts such as development and either utilising, or readjusting local ideologies where necessary, in order to ensure their own institutional survival.

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1 The examples utilised in this paper focus on the experience of chieftaincy in southern Ghana, particularly Asante and Akan in general. This is not because happenings in chieftaincy in northern Ghana are not significant. Rather it is because the study is based on the southern experience, particularly, that of the Asante. While the Asante chieftaincy institution does not always mirror the nature of chieftaincy in the entire southern Ghana, its scope and reach presents an important case study to measure the extent of changes that occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries.