The Politics of Traditional-Federal State Formation and Land Administration Reform in Ghana: 1821-2010
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The Politics of Traditional-Federal State Formation and Land Administration Reform in Ghana: 1821-2010 Daniel Appiah PhD University of York Department of Politics May 2012 Abstract Imagine a democratic state in Africa where the Presidential-Executive and Parliament are constitutionally restrained from fundamentally reforming the institutions of land ownership and administration without the legal consent of traditional rulers (chiefs). This is the case in Ghana. Using the historical institutional theoretical approach, the study makes an original contribution to our understanding of how the political process of state formation between British colonial state makers and the rulers of traditional states in Ghana produced a type of state that I call the traditional-federal state in 1821-1831. The core legacies of this state are (i) the bifurcation of public authority between chiefs and government in the governance of land and people; and (ii) the complex interaction of informal-legal rules of customary law and formal-legal rules of common law. The study shows how these legacies have shaped institutional reforms within the dual ‘customary’ and ‘public’ sectors of land administration. The study argues that the traditional-federal state has constrained the development of transparent, accountable and efficient institutional framework of land administration. The study helps us to understand the origins and nature of the bifurcation of state authority between chiefs and government over land administration in Ghana. Secondly, the study helps us to understand the nature of institutions of chieftaincy for customary land administration. The study shows that informal-legal customary institutions of land administration are complementary to, and substitute for, the formal-legal institutions of land administration. Thirdly, the study shows that the potential of communal land ownership to promote development could be realized if government, chiefs, and citizens are committed to the creation and enforcement of formal-legal rules of accountable administration that distributes the benefits among stakeholders. Finally, the study reinforces the historical institutionalist argument that the critical juncture of institutional development matters for understanding subsequent endogenous and exogenous sources of institutional change. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 1 List of Tables................................................................................................................ 8 List of Diagrams ........................................................................................................... 9 Dedication .................................................................................................................. 10 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 11 Declaration ................................................................................................................. 14 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ......................................................................... 15 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................... 18 The Traditional-Federal State in Ghana: The Problem for Analysis ................. 18 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 18 1.1 The Bifurcated State: Public and Customary Sectors of State Authority ....... 18 1.1.1 The Thesis: Critical Juncture and Path Dependence ............................ 22 1.2 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 23 1.3 Analytical Framework: Historical Institutionalism ......................................... 23 1.4 Structure of the Study...................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................... 26 Analytical Framework: Historical Institutionalism .............................................. 26 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 26 2.1 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................... 27 2.1.1 Politics and Political Settlements ......................................................... 27 2.1.2 Institutions and Organizations.............................................................. 28 2.1.4 Accountability: The Politics of State Accountability .......................... 40 2.2 The Historical Institutional Analytical Approach: Understanding the Origins and Causal Effects of State Institutions ..................................................................... 44 2.2.1 The Critical Juncture and Path Dependence Explanatory Model ........ 47 2.3 Research Methodology: Comparative Historical Analysis ............................ 54 2.3.1 The Problem of Case Selection from Numerous Outcomes ................ 55 2.4 Research Methods: Documentary Analysis and Interviews............................ 57 2 2.4.1 Secondary Sources of Research Data ................................................... 57 2.4.2 Examining Historical Records for Sequential Evidence ...................... 58 2.4.3 Interviews: Adding Little Colour to Stiff Accounts? ........................... 60 2.4.4 Other Sources of Primary Data ............................................................ 64 2.4.5 Academic Integrity and Research Ethics ............................................. 65 2.5 Conclusion: Critical Juncture of Institutional Development Matters ............. 66 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................... 68 Land Administration in Africa – A Literature Review ........................................ 68 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 68 3.1 What is Land Administration? Issues of Land Ownership and Tenure .......... 69 3.2 Land Administration in Africa: The Dominance of Customary Institutions or the Legacies of Traditional-Federal States? ............................................................... 74 3.2.1 Land Ownership and Administration in Africa .................................... 75 3.2.2 What is Customary Land Tenure? ....................................................... 79 3.2.3 Capitalist Development and Institutional Reform in Customary Land Tenure Administration in Africa ........................................................................ 81 3.2.4 Resistance to Institutional Reform in Customary Land Tenure ........... 86 3.3 Paths to Legal Formalization of Customary Land Tenure .............................. 91 3.3.1 Institutional Transfer of Botswana’s Land Boards? ............................. 91 3.4 Conclusion: Understanding Customary Institutions of Authority .................. 95 Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................... 97 The Politics of Traditional-Federal State Formation and Political Settlements Over Land Ownership in the Gold Coast: 1800-1901 .......................................... 97 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 97 4.1 The Failure of the Colonial Unitary State Project: 1821-1830 ....................... 98 4.2 Merchants Rule and the Traditional-Federal State Project: 1831-1842 ........ 101 4.2.1 Return of Crown Rule and the Bonds of 1844 ................................... 104 4.2.2 The Creation of Public Lands: A Necessary Feature of States .......... 106 4.2.3 The Fante Confederation: In Search of an Accountable Chieftaincy? ………………………………………………………………………107 3 4.2.4 The Defeat and Disintegration of the Asante Confederacy ............... 111 4.3 European Capital Development and the Question of Land Ownership ........ 112 4.4 Resistance to Reform in Stool Land Ownership ........................................... 114 4.4.1 Bifurcation of State Authority in Land Administration: Administration of ‘Unoccupied Lands’ by Chiefs and Government ........................................ 114 4.4.2 The 1894 Crown Lands Bill: Vesting ‘Waste Lands’ in Government ………………………………………………………………………116 4.4.3 The 1897 Public Lands Bill: Defining Stool Lands as Public Lands . 118 4.4.4 Crown Lands and Intra-state Transfers of Stool Land in Ashanti ..... 120 4.5 Conclusion: The Legacies of the Traditional-Federal State Matter .............. 123 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................. 127 Transition to the Traditional-Unitary State, 1902-1953: Nation-State Building and Accountability in Chieftaincy Administration ............................................. 127 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 127 5.1 Consolidation of Communal Land Ownership: Cocoa Boom, Economic Revolution and Conflict over Stool Lands ............................................................... 128 5.1.1 The Cocoa Boom and Increasing Stool Land Sales: