1. Queen Mothers: The Unseen Hands in Chieftaincy Conflicts Among the Akan in Ghana: Myth or Reality?
- Author
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Owusu-Mensah, I., Asante, W., and Osew, W. K.
- Subjects
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CHURCH group work with mothers , *AKAN (African people) , *CHIEFDOMS -- Social aspects , *DEMYTHOLOGIZATION (Religion) , *ATTITUDES of mothers , *MANNERS & customs , *SOCIAL history - Abstract
The Chieftaincy institution is the most enduring establishment in the Republic of Ghana's political history. Its capacity to transcend the three phases of the country: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras as well as the three regime types: one-party, multi-party and military, demonstrates its resilience. Further, it remains the medium of expression of social, political, religious, traditional and economic authority in most communities in Ghana. In spite of the persistent spirit of the institution, in the Akan areas of Ghana it is bedevilled with protracted succession conflicts which has become one of the major sources of conflict in the country, and a key party to these conflicts is the unseen role of the Queen Mothers. Hence, the central aim of this paper is to assess the contribution of Queen Mothers in these conflicts. Documentary sources and elite interviews were the methods of data collection; the study used the Conflict Development Analysis as framework to identify the various dimensions of these succession conflicts in four Akan regions. The study resolved among others that if all lines of succession of chiefs were documented and preserved, it would be a useful guide to Queen Mothers and king makers in the mitigation of chieftaincy conflicts in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015