“Our Stool and its Rituals are the basis of Protection for our Chieftaincy and Community”: The Value of Stool Rituals among the Anfoega- Ewe of Ghana.

Abstract

Chieftaincy is the oldest traditional leadership institution in Ghana which combines religion and rituals, and which is charged with the responsibility  of  performing  executive,  legislative  and  judicial functions  in  order  to  ensure  peace,  stability  and  development among most traditional societies in the country. Despite the impact of  colonial  rule  and  post-colonial  administrative  measures  that have  weakened  the  functions  of  this  noble  institution,  it  has survived  due  to  its  ability  to  merge  leadership  and  religious practices. Based on ethnographic data from the ritual experts of the paramount stool (Gablui Kofi Stool) of the Anfoega-Ewe of Ghana, this  paper  explores  the  specific  rituals  of  this  sacred  stool  and  the spiritual  entities  attached  to  it,  and  argues  that  the  stool  is indispensable  in  the  life  of  the  Anfoega  people  as  protector  and source  of  solution  to  their  existential  problems;  and  that  this benevolence is reciprocated with ritual events. It is emphasized that despite the influx of Christian religious groups to the area, the stool is  still  highly  revered  even  by  some  local  Christian  converts,  and that the people believe that abandoning the stool and its associated rituals is an anathema in the community.