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Taboos and Governance in Asante Fante and Ga Societies in Ghana

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Taboos and Governance in Asante Fante and Ga Societies in Ghana DOCTORAL SCHOOL OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION EMMANUEL ABEKU ESSEL TABOOS AND GOVERNANCE IN ASANTE FANTE AND GA SOCIETIES IN GHANA . Supervisor Prof. Dr. Maria Bordas In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosoph (PhD) Budapest, Hungary June 16, 2020 i Declaration I hereby declare that this PhD thesis entitled “Taboos and Governance in Fante Asante and Ga Societies in Ghana” is the product of my own work. It contains no material that has been previously presented in whole or in part to any institution of learning for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Any already published materials that have been used in this thesis to the best of my knowledge have been duly acknowledged. Unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged Candidate’s Signature:…………………………………………… Date: June 16, 2020 Name: Emmanuel Abeku Essel Supervisor’s Declaration I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by the National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary. Supervisor’s Signature: …………………………………………….. Date: June 16, 2020 Name: Prof. Dr. Maria Bordas ii Abstract The study sought to explore Taboos and Governance in the Asante, Fante and Ga Societies in Ghana. The specific objectives were to have a good understanding of what constitutes governance and good governance in the context of the indigenous set-up; to assess the current nature of governance related taboos; to evaluate the impact of contemporary society on taboos and the consequence of any impact of contemporary society on the taboos on indigenous governance. The study was guided by the Creswell’s knowledge on research paradigm to describe a researcher’s philosophical view and conceptualisation of reality. The study adopted mixed method approach in achieving the objective of the study by obtaining empirical data for the research questions. Two sets of instruments were adopted for data gathering. The first instrument was an interview guide that was used to solicit structured data from the respondents in order to elicit more candid and objective replies. The second instrument was a questionnaire, which was used by the researcher to enable him gather the exact responses relevant to the study, from participants. The main findings of the study disclosed that the people in the study areas are uniquely structured as far as their traditions and cultures are concerned. Secondly, it came to light that traditional rulers occupy unique position, hence in order to maintain certain standards to please their subjects on whose authority they rule, they cannot avoid observing taboos. Thirdly, taboos remain the key factor for guiding principles of moral conduct towards the exploitation of property belonging to the community. Fourthly, the study revealed that there is lack of co-ordination between Traditional Authorities (T.A’s) and Local Government Institutions (L.G. I’s) necessitating the call by the TA’s to be involved in all deliberations of governance in their area of authority. Fifthly, the Chiefs are calling for a means to make real the dictates of the 1992 constitution to be part of the local governance structure. Finally, the study showed that, the Chieftaincy institution is an institution that cannot be done away with. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher made a number of recommendations, which could have far-reaching results on the chieftaincy institution and the local government system in Ghana. The suggested recommendations are; the chieftaincy institution should be assisted financially by the government, Non-Governmental Organizations, (NGOs) the District Assembly and private individuals to organize training workshops and durbars to increase people’s awareness about the importance of taboos on indigenous governance system as part of governance of the society. Added to that, one potential area which should be of concern to Ghana as a nation is chieftaincy conflict and this comes about because people who are not iii members of the royal families and lineages are using their influence and wealth to usurp power. With reference to this, the study recommends that the National House of Chiefs (NHC) should intensify the codification of all succession lines of chiefs in the study areas and the country as a whole, this will prevent usurpers from fomenting troubles in the traditional areas studied and largely the country. Last but not the least, the study recommends that, the process of limiting leadership to only members of the royal houses deny these traditional areas where the study took place of all the leadership potential available to them, Until that practice is changed the areas would be denied of services of the general members of the society. iv Absztrakt/Összefoglalás A disszertáció arra törekekszik, hogy feltárja a Ghánában található Asante, Fante és Ga törzsi rendszerek tabuit és kormányzati rendszereit. A disszertáció konkrét célkitűzése, hogy - képet adjunk arról, mit jelent a kormányzás és a jó kormányzás az őslakos társadalmi szerkezetben; - felmérje a jelenlegi kormányzáshoz kapcsolódó tabuk rendszerét; - megvizsgálja, hogy milyen hatást gyakorol a jelenlegi, modern társadalom az őslakos kormányzati rendszerek tradícióira, különös tekintettel a tabukra; A disszertáció a Creswell kutatási paradigmájának ismeretein alapul, amelynek célja, hogy feltárja a kutató hipotéziseit a kialakult gyakorlattal összefüggésben. A tanulmány vegyes módszerű kutatási megközelítést alkalmazott a tanulmány céljának eléréséhez, amikor empirikus adatokra alapozta a kutatási kérdések megválaszolását. Az empírikus adatgyűjtéshez két módszert vettünk alapul. Az első egy interjú-útmutató volt, amelyet arra használtunk fel, hogy strukturált adatokat kapjunk a válaszadóktól, annak érdekében, hogy azok minél őszintébb és objektívebb válaszokat adjanak. A második módszer egy kérdőív volt, amelyet a kutató arra használt, hogy a résztvevőktől összegyűjtse a disszertáció szempontjából releváns, pontos válaszokat. A tanulmány fő ténymegállapítása, hogy a disszertáció által vizsgált területeken élő emberek hagyományai és kultúrájuk egyedi vonásokat mutatnak. Másrészt, a kutatás rávilágított arra a tényre is, hogy a hagyományos uralkodók egyeduralmi pozíciót töltenek be, ami azt jelenti, hogy a nép, amely az uralmuk alatt áll, engedelmeskedni köteles neki, bizonyos előírások betartása érdekében, mely utóbbiak legfontosabb formái a tabuk. Harmadrészt, a tabuk továbbra is kulcsszerepet játszanak az erkölcsi normákon alapuló magatartási elvek megtartásában, különösen a közösséghez tartozó vagyon hasznosításával kapcsolatban. Negyedrészt, a disszertáció rámutatott arra, hogy hiányzik a koordináció a hagyományos hatóságok (TA-k) és az önkormányzati intézmények (LGI-k) között, amely azt eredményezi, hogy v az önkormányzati intézmények nem teszik lehetővé, hogy a TA-k részt vegyenek a kormányzati tanácskozásokon, amely egyébként a hatáskörükbe tartozik. Ötödrészt, a törzsfőnökök ragaszkodnak azokhoz a jogaikhoz, amelyeket az 1992. évi alkotmány szabályoz, és ami a helyi önkormányzati részvételüket garantálja. A kutatás eredményei alapján a kutató számos olyan ajánlást fogalmazott meg, amelyek bevezetése hasznos eredményeket hozhat a Ghánában lévő törzsfőnöki intézményi és az önkormányzati rendszerben. A javasolt ajánlások a következők: a kormánynak, a nem kormányzati szervezeteknek (NGO- knak), a Kerületi Közgyűlésnek és magánszemélyeknek pénzügyi segítséget kell nyújtaniuk a törzsfőnöki intézmény számára képzési műhelyek és dúrbárok szervezésével, annak érdekében, hogy az emberek figyelmét felhívják arra, hogy az őslakos kormányzati rendszerben lévő tabuk milyen fontos szerepet töltenek be a helyi törzsi szervezetek kormányzati rendszerében. Van azonban egy olyan probléma, amely Ghánának mint nemzetnek sok gondot okoz: a törzsfőnöki pozícióval kapcsolatos konfliktusok, amelyek azért jönnek létre, mert azok a törzsi tagok, akik nem a királyi családok targjai, vagy azok leszármazói, befolyásukkal és vagyonukkal sokszor a királyi hatalom megszerzésére törekszenek. Ez utóbbira tekintettel, a disszertáció azt javasolja, hogy a Nemzeti Törzsfőnökök Házának (NHC) támogatnia kell a törzsfőnökök utódlásának hagyományos módját, olyan módon, hogy ezt kodifikálják az alkotmányban, vagy valamely más jogszabályban, annak érdekében, hogy a trónbitorlókat megakadályozzák abban, hogy fegyveres konfliktusok és ezáltal instabilitás alakuljon ki az ország törzsi területeien. Végül, de nem utolsósorban, a disszertáció azt javasolja, hogy a disszertáció által vizsgált területeken csak azokat a vezetési formákat ismerje el az állami kormányzat, amelyek a királyi házak tradicionlis utódlásán alapulnak, és azokat ne, amelyek ennek nem felelnek meg. Amíg ez a gyakorlat bevezetésre nem kerül, azok a potenciális vezetők, akik ugyan alkalmasak lennének a vezetésre, de a királyi család utódlási hagyományai szerint nem választhatók meg, nem tölthetnek be vezető funkciót. vi Dedication I dedicate this work to Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang (Nee Sam) for believing in me and giving me a lifeline. To my wife Abigail Maame Esi Tawiah Essel, my son Papa Kwaku Gyan Essel (Prof.) and daughter, Maame Ama Eduwaa Essel. (Lady) Your sacrifices for me to pull this work through means a lot to me and I promise you, I shall also sacrifice the rest of all I have now for your growth and development. This I pledge and may God be my help. vii Acknowledgement “To everything that
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