PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN GHANA Ewe and Akan Procedures on Females’ Inheritance and Property Rights A Dissertation Submitted by Victor S. Gedzi in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES of the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam The Hague, The Netherlands The Hague, 19 October 2009 Reading Committee Promotor: Professor dr G. ter Haar International Institute of Social Studies Co-promotors: Professor dr B.M. Oomen Utrecht University Professor dr K. Quashigah University of Ghana Other members: Professor dr J.E. Goldschmidt Utrecht University Professor dr W.E.A. van Beek Leiden University Professor dr J.M. Otto Leiden University Dr T. Truong International Institute of Social Studies This dissertation is part of the research programme of CERES, Research School for Resource Studies for Development. Funded by the Netherlands Fellowship programme (NFP) © Copyright Shaker Publishing 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed in The Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-423-0372-0 Shaker Publishing BV St. Maartenslaan 26 6221 AX Maastricht Tel.: 043-3500424 / Fax: 043-3255090 / http: // www.shaker.nl Acknowledgements As the saying goes, there is no journey that does not have an end. It is the hope of getting to the end of this PhD programme that keeps us moving even in most trying moments. At the end of the journey, I feel indebted to the organisations; institu- tions and many people who played significant roles in enabling me to complete this PhD thesis. First and foremost, I am grateful to the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (Nuffic) that supported me financially throughout the PhD programme. I am most indebted to Professor Gerrie ter Haar, promoter, whose direction together with the involvement of University of Cape Coast helped me succeed in obtaining the scholarship for the PhD programme. I am most grateful for her supervisory role, and for that of Professor Barbara Oomen, co-promoter. I am profoundly grateful for their pa- tience, understanding, encouragement, concern and guidance. I found their prompt and thorough reading of the draft versions of the thesis, and their critical comments very challenging and constructive. I wish to thank the Rector of the Institute of Social Studies, Professor Louk de la Rive Box, other administrative staff, Ank van den Berg, Mau- reen Koster, Dita Dirks, Cynthia Recto-Carreon, John Sinjorgo, Martin Blok, Susan Spaa and Sylvia Cattermole in the Institute of Social Studies, for their administrative roles that contributed to the completion of my PhD programme. I am grateful to Professors Wouter van Beek and Els A. Baerends, who contributed their valuable thoughts on the theoretical/conceptual framework and the achieved domain of the research. I am also thankful to Drs Karin Arts, Truong Thanhdam and J. Cameron at the Institute of iv EWE AND AKAN PROCEDURES ON FEMALE’S INHERITANCE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS IN GHANA Social Studies for their contributions in one way or another to the suc- cess of my research. I also appreciate the valuable support from the ILIAD, especially the library staff and technicians in the computer department. I am most thankful especially to Milagros Wiersma-Uriarte, Jacqueline Dellaert, Lupe Nunez, Lidwien Lamboo, Riet van Eunsbergen, Hans van Werven, Catherine van der Ree and Saskia Schffer. Others include Francis Doran, Don Wedel, Ijaz Soeltan and Marco Lopez. I thank Joy Misa for the excellent editing and formatting. I enjoyed the friendship of many students, including my fellow PhD candidates, especially the 2005/2009 year group, in the Institute of Social Studies. I wish to thank them all. Outside the Netherlands, I wish to thank Professor Franz Von Benda-Beckmann who took the time to discuss legal pluralism in devel- oping countries like Ghana with me. I am grateful to Professor Kofi Quashigah in the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana (Legon), who was my supervisor during my field- work in Ghana. Discussions with him and with my promoters led to what I have now as the achieved domain of my research. I also thank Professor Elom Dovlo in the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana (Legon) for his comments on my research proposal. My sincere gratitude goes to Rev. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo, a senior lec- turer at the same Department with Professor Dovlo, for discussions we had on religious dimensions of dispute resolution. Similarly, I am grateful to Drs Dzodzi Tsikata and Mariam Awumbila, senior lecturers in the University of Ghana (Legon) for sharing their thoughts with me. I also thank Dr Afeti, former Principal of Ho Polytechnic Institute, Ghana, for reading through my proposal and making constructive suggestions. I cannot forget to thank the Emeritus Professor of Comparative Re- ligion, Christian Gaba, and also Professor Benjamin Ntreh, Chair of the Department for the Study of Religions and the outgoing Vice- Chancellor, Professor Emmanuel Addo Obeng, University of Cape Coast, for their various contributions towards my study in the Nether- lands. I thank Nana Yao Sarkodie and all other senior lecturers of the Department for their friendship and encouragement. On a similar note, I wish to thank Mr Ambrose Kumassah and Rev. Fr. Lawrence Tebi, parish-priest of Sepe-Timpo, both of whom provided accommodations during my fieldwork in Anloga and Kumasi. Acknowledgements v I am as well indebted to Dr Coffie, Mr Anthony Owusu Ansah and Mr Segbefia, who helped me as research assistants during the fieldwork. Of special mention are His Grace Peter K. Sarpong, the Catholic Arch-Bishop of Kumasi, Asakore-Mamponghene, Mr Owusu Ansah, Ejisuhene, Togbui Avevor, Regent of Avadada, the Late Mr Kofi Togobo, Mr T. Bedzrah, Togbui Kove, Mr Richard Sagodo, and also Court registrars, lawyers, judges and magistrates of District, Circuit and High Courts in Anloga, Keta, Ho, Adum and in the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, Kumasi, who constituted part of my key informants during the fieldwork. I wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Agbotadua Kumassah and all the other male and female informants, including chiefs and elders in Anloga and Kumasi whose names have not been men- tioned, but who played significant roles in sharing their experiences and life histories with me. These experiences and life histories contributed in shaping the content of this thesis. In addition, in a special way, I am very grateful to my father, Augustine Ahiagble, my late mum, Lucy Kpodo, Evelyn Cofie, Emilia and my sweet daughter, little Gerrie Sedinam, who gave me strength and hope. In the final analysis, I am most grateful to God, who supported me throughout the PhD programme. Victor S. Gedzi The Hague ASANTE Kumasi• AKAN • Anloga Map of Ghana showing the research units of Asante and Anlo in the Ashanti and Volta regions of the country (Nukunya 1969) vi Abstract The thesis analyzes core elements of variant dispute resolution proce- dures in chiefs’ courts, and substantive laws among the Anlo and the As- ante of Ghana. It delimits itself to studying dispute resolution procedures and proceedings on female’s property inheritance among these two socio-cultural groups. The intention is to identify strengths and weak- nesses of the dispute resolution institutions (including substantive laws), which infringe on women’s inheritance and property rights in spite of legislative interventions to remedy the situation. The research is necessitated by current inundation of the formal court in Ghana with cases. In the national and international discourses it has become clear that the formal sector alone cannot handle the enormous volumes of cases. Even though chiefs’ courts in Ghana help to some ex- tent in decongesting cases in the formal courts, it is alleged that they are gender biased, for example in their panel representation of legal decision- makers, and that not only procedures but also their court norms or prin- ciples are gender discriminatory. This calls into question whether indige- nous institutions can play any meaningful role in the attainment of gen- der equality as propounded by the international regimes such as Protocols to both the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The approach of the research is that of an anthropological qualitative case study. The study involved secondary and primary data with (partici- patory) observation, and explanations of indigenous proverbs and meta- phors, which encapsulate how women are socially imaged by both the patrilineal and matrilineal family systems and how this social image de- fines their position in society in terms of their inheritance and property vii viii EWE AND AKAN PROCEDURES ON FEMALE’S INHERITANCE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS IN GHANA rights. The primary data are obtained from fieldwork in Anloga and Kumasi, both in the Volta and the Ashanti regions of Ghana. The findings of the research are that in spite of governments’ legisla- tive interventions, indigenous principles and socio-cultural practices of the research units continue to a large extent to determine intestate inheri- tance. In addition, when it comes to inheriting a man’s property, women have fewer rights than men. My thesis is that negative social image of women is the cause of women’s social and economic subordination to men in kinship structures in Ghana. Kinship or family structures, the domain of legal and socio-cultural practices of the Anlo and the Asante, often treat women differently from men in social and in economic rela- tions. It follows that appreciation of the above, together with other cul- tural practices in the social universe of the two groups of people need to be considered in the reform of intestate succession law in Ghana.