Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Traditional Constitution of the Gá-Dángme

By Dr. Nii Armarh Aryeh

Underlying the rigid social structure of the Gá-Dángme is a well-defined traditional constitutional framework. At the apex of Gá-Dángme constitution is the triumvirate of Gá, Krobo and Ada kings - sovereigns of the three major parts or (man-wudzi) of modern Gá-Dangme. Known as the Three Kings or Mantsemei ete, the core territory or mantiase of each king is divided into recognisable quarters, invariably ruled by royal princes. Quarter organisation is based on the number seven, representing the number of actual or hypothetical groups in which the Gá-Dángme arrived on the coastal plains.
The number seven has therefore been institutionalised and conventionalised into the traditional constitution. True, there are several towns whose quarters are less than seven; but this represents a dysfunction of the political system rather than an aberration. In former times, the number seven had always been restored when due to amalgamation or the accident of migration the Gá towns and quarters had been reduced in number.

Thus, people from Osudoku and from La were invited to constitute the Gá towns of Osu and Teshi; in this way, the principle of man-kodzi kpawo (seven-branched town) was restored. In turn the territory of the Gá-Dángme as whole is divided into man-dzi or urbanised areas and kosé, the country. The major traditional towns of each King are further subdivided into quarters. Each town is headed by a manche-wulu or nene ? (Major chief); the quarters of the major towns are headed by quarter chiefs or divisional chiefs.
At the base of the political structure are the aklowai (villages) and the akutsei (sections) of the major towns. Individuals are attached to a particular sub-group through an aklowa or akutso. Within each aklowa or akutso are the great family houses or adebo shia from which the major Gá-Dángme lineages originate.
Each part, town, division, akutso and aklowa of the Gá-Dángme polity is represented by a stool which the head occupies. It appears that the initial Gá-Dángme practice of symbolising kingship through ayawa or brass stools was well-established before the founding of, say, the Asante kingdom in 1701. Reindorf records the ownership of stools among the Gá and the Guan as early as ..... However, as is well illustrated by the carving of the Ngleshi stool by Otu Brafo it appears that Akan religious concepts, attributing fetish and mythical powers, have been added to the functions of the stool; this, however, applies only to the stools of Otublohum and Ngleshi.

The Gá-Dángme chief, as we have seen, is lineally descended from the prophets and priest-kings of the past. He combines in his role the functions of a law-giver, judge, administrator, prime-minister, war-leader, supreme defender, and ritual functionary. As war-leader, the chief acts as commander of the combined troops of the quarters under his stool; he, in consultation with the relevant wulomo, declares war and sues for peace.

The actual assembling of troops and the provision of logistics fall within the remit of the various family heads, shipi, asafoatsemei, and tatsemei. But once assembled, troop movement and prosecution of a war were controlled by the chief through his chief generals. The chief functions as political leader, ceremonial head, and traditional judge. As political leader, the chief occupies the town stool which symbolises the collective spirit of his people and is on ceremonial occasions obliged to perform appropriate rites for the people. However, as we have noted, the role of the chief has become more and more secularised in recent times. In the days of yore, he led his people in war and organised voluntary labour. Today, he still retains a notional role as war-leader but his political function is practically restricted to liasing with the main quarter and lineage heads; and ensuring the observance of the traditional calendar.

As ceremonial leader, the chief co-ordinates the activities of the religious hierarchy, sanctioning the observance of the major festivals and traditional injunctions. During the major festive occasion he appears in official regalia and takes part in ritual dancing. Aside from public ceremonies, the performs private ceremonies within the palace for the well-being of the town.

In many ways, the chief is propped in place by the Gyase or king-makers; the Gyase is a body of men constituting an electoral college, frequently selected from the major quarters to ensure the nomination and appointment of the most suitable candidate from the appropriate lineage as chief. Traditional politics is therefore often dominated by the Gyase; a radical Gyase tends to become the king-maker and the king-destroyer. The Gyase-tse or head of the Gyase occupies a powerful role, determining the composition of the Gyase and the longevity of the chief. The Gyase is drawn only from specific lineages; the rules of heredity that this entails can keep the majority of subjects unrepresented. An over-powerful Gyase therefore tends to lead to political instability.

The powers of the Gyase can, if unchecked, diminish the liberties of the manbii or town folk. Unfettered control of a chief by the Gyase is therefore a recipe for traditional dictatorship, mitigated only by the powers of central government. Loss of land rights and lack of accountability are the commonest manifestation of unfettered traditional government.

It appears that in ancient times the powers of the Gyase were held in check by the office of Shikitele. This survives in a vestigial form only at La. In origin the Shikitele was an elected representative of the manbii with powers to override, or at least veto, the Gyase as well as to articulate the concerns of townfolks to the chief. The revival of this admirable institution should have a beneficial effect on Gá-Dángme traditional government.

As the proclamation of messages was an original duty of the Gá-Dángme priest-kings, the office of Okyeame was a latter-day addition to Gá-Dángme government. After the secularisation of kingship, there developed the office of Kélor or sayer, the equivalent of the present Okyeame. Given the mystery with which kings surrounded themselves, the Kélor became an important court official through whom all royal messages were publicly transmitted. Although the Kélor can sometimes restrict access to the king and enjoys pride of place on ceremonial occasions, he has little constitutional powers besides,

The principal Asafoiatse is another important official. The duties of the Asafoiatse are more particularly set out below. It suffices here to state only that the Asafoiatse has currently acquired special importance as one of two important officials who presence and participation are necessary to lend validity to certain ceremonial functions; the other official being the Okyeame or Kelór. Over a hundred years ago Reindorf noted;

The [unwritten] Constitution has run out its three stages: the prophet stage, in which the foretelling priest held the reins; the priest-stage, in which the high priest of the national fetish had the reins; and the king-stage. The best method, therefore, left to the educated community is, to reorganize the whole structure of government on Christian principles, before we shall be acknowledged as a nation.

Admittedly, Reindorf did not attempt to embark on a systematic study of the Gá-Dángme Constitution; if he had, he would have discovered a living structure which stood only in need of definition and refinement. Common origin, a common migratory journey, and the administrative structures of the kingdoms of La Nimo and Ayawaso as well as subsequent history have led to the evolution of a common Gá-Dángme Constitution on the basis of a traditional confederacy.

The need to defend themselves and their contiguous territories against common enemies as well as the need to survive, to multiply and to prosper, provided a powerful spur for the development of constitutional relations which have only to be properly set out to be as valid for the Gá-Dángme as it was in ancient times.
In ancient times, power was naturally located in the larger political entities of Accra, Krobo and Ada, and to a lesser extent in the larger settlements of Nungua, Ladadi, Osu, Teshi, Tema, Kpone, Prampram, Ningo, Odumase, Somanya, Agormanya, Dodowa, Shai, Obutu, Awutu, etc. The Three Kings of Accra, Krobo and Ada were compelled to defend the smaller settlements and therefore to exercise rights of jurisdiction over them.

As between The Three Kings, there was a relationship of equality tempered only by the power conferred on the King of Accra, largely by historic accident, to act on behalf of all the Gá-Dangme. Although the concept of the stool in traditional politics has been depicted as a distinctively Akan idea it appears that the Gá-Dángme kings occupied brass (ayawa) thrones long before the concept spread among the Akan peoples.
Early Gá-Dángme political organisation was based on the concept of the mantso, representing the "town-tree" as a metaphor for the Gá-Dángme polity. According to the concept of mantso the Gá-Dángme peoples constitute the fruits or citizens of the town tree. each citizen is in turn connected to other citizens through a branch which may be Gá, Dángme, Krobo, etc. All the branches are in turn linked to one great trunk, standing externally in the chosen territory of the Gá-Dángme peoples, with roots extending deep into the past. under this concept every citizen is directly linked to the base of the tree and his or her social and moral condition concerns the town-tree directly as it might lead to the destruction of the whole.

An explanation of the Gá usage of the term man is necessary here to clarify the discussion. Etymologically the word is derived from ma, namely, to erect or establish. Man is the contraction of the word ma mli(n), i.e. "within what has been established or founded." The manche, usually but not always descended from the founder of the town was generally acknowledged as the leader of the town. Thus even during the period of strict theocracy the wulomo also remained a king or manche, although the two functions were fused and the religious function appeared to have pre-dominated.

The original Twi form of man is kro, as in Oseikrom or odikro (He who reigns in the town). Thus the Akan adoption of the word man, as in Adansiman, reinforces the view that certain Akan forms of statecraft were in fact borrowed from early Gá-Dángme ideas of social and political organisation. This is buttressed by the fact that the vowel "a" is stressed in Gá-Dángme whereas the Twi-speaking peoples tend to pronounce their "a" with a softer "e".

A corollary of the notion of mantso is the idea of single blood or sap running throughout the mantso and invigorating the citizens with a sense of hard work and duty. The town-tree image conveys figuratively an image of the Gá-Dángme as a single people united by common blood that courses through their veins and infuses them with a single and undying national spirit. In the courtyard of all Gá-Dángme priests and on other sacral ground stands a giant fig-tree, symbolising the unity of the Gá-Dángme peoples.

A common Gá-Dángme ethic developed on the basis of common unity emphasises (and partly recited at kpodziemo or "outdooring" ceremonies) honesty, hard work and respect. Indeed the Gá are named after the fierce and hard-working soldier ant (Gaga or nkrang) known for the qualities of unyielding determination, loyalty and cooperation.

Currently the term mantse tends to be used, without differentiation, to describe all occupants of village, town, quarter and tribal stools; this is apt to lead to considerable confusion in determining political hierarchy and obfuscates the structure of traditional authority. The appropriate term for headmen or leaders of villages, hamlets and new towns is wetse; the term was, for instance, used to describe the first leader of the Jamestown polity.

In theory, a wetse is leader of a lineage or we; the founder of a village or new town often begins by founding a new lineage around which new families cohere to create a new mantso. The founder may be an outstanding individual, a great warrior, adventurer, prosperous trader; or he may be a prince keen to establish his own dominion outside the established principalities.
A wetse may also be created by an established monarch who has it in his gifts to reward particularly illustrious subjects by the creation of new titles. Another of the king's gifts is the title of tatse; this is awarded not only to outstanding warriors, but also to individuals who had defended the interests of the polity in other endeavours. A great wetse or tatse and his followers could in ancient times successfully create a new town and exercise control over lands appurtenant to his realm.

Under the wetse or tatse, will be members of his own immediate family and lineage; various family groups drawn to the new town; and visitors who may come for business. Over all this people, the wetse and his leading courtiers exercise political authority. The leading courtiers are normally drawn from the households of the most loyal servants of the wetse. If this system continues undisturbed for a considerable period of time, normally a number of generations, the original settlers become the indegenes of the town; they impose their customs on newcomers as the law of the land. Newcomers in turn would normally feel obliged, by force of human habit, to follow the behaviour of the original settlers.

The rights of the founders of the town, if unquestioned, became supreme law; their rights to the land was often visually reinforced by various tombs of their ancestors attached to the land; and their exclusive knowledge of rituals to secure the prosperity of the town. In time, the descendants of the wetse or tatse become kings, their right to such office having become universally acknowledged. As the king and his noblemen became keen to protect their prerogatives and hereditary rights, the power of appointing kings became located in a gyase essentially made up of noblemen. As we have seen, the Gá-Dángme evolved the peculiar office of shikitele to check the powers of the gyase, but the office seems to have fallen into desuetude across the various towns.

Towns, often alatas, founded by a wetse or tatse, were different in administration and source of authority from towns founded by descendants of the original Gá-Dangme. An alata often started as a republic where public matters were resolved under giant fig-trees reminiscent of the dispute settlement procedures of the great wulomei.

On the other hand, it was widely recognised that through extensive inter-marriage the original Gá-Dángme blood had become so mingled among the various Gá-Dángme groups that virtually any Gá-Dangme, by settling on unoccupied land within the control of any of the Three Kings, could found a town or quarter of his own. This principle operated successfully in the founding of Osu by people from Osudoku and in the founding of the quarters of Anorhor (Osu) and Krobo and Kle-musu in Teshi; the founders of Teshi Krobo and Klemusu having immigrated from Krobo and Ningo respectively.

Other examples of alatas are the townships founded across Accra by the descendants of Hausas and other Muslim elements. Some of the ancestors of the Hausas and Yorubas were brought by Sir John Glover to fight the Ashanti and Awuna wars. Unlike the true alata townships of the past which were invariably assimilated into the traditional scheme to maintain the seven-quarter arrangement, the Hausa and Yoruba townships do not appear at first glance, to have been assimilated into the Gá-Dángme polity.

However, the case of Republic v. Gá Traditional Council; Ex Parte Damanley suggests that such communities have been incorporated into the Gá political structure. According to Quartey-Papafio, Alhaji Braimah was made head of the whole Muslim community in Accra in 1909; however, full incorporation should, for instance, have made the descendants of Alhaji Braimah and the other Muslim leaders at least asafoiatsemei of the Gbese quarter on whose lands their townships are located.

The apparent lack of assimilation of new communities in the urban areas into the Gá-Dángme traditional constitutional structure arises out of the overall failure to formulate a proper administrative mechanism for the area. Furthermore, the new alatas (including zongos) could be more perfectly incorporated into the Gá-Dángme constitutional structure by the direct assimilation of their ruling houses into the quarter system. This seems to have been achieved in the incorporation of the Tabongs or Brazilians, who settled in Accra in 1836, into the Otublohum quarter.

As the quarters in several Gá-Dángme towns, for instance Osu and Nungua, number less than the constitutionally required seven, new quarters could be created in such towns to account for newly-assmilated Gá-Dangme. In all such instances, it is obligatory that at least the ruling house of the assimilated group adopts Gá-Dángme names.

Overall, the traditional Constitution of the Gá-Dángme may be briefly described as follows. At the apex are the Three Kings of Gá, Krobo and Ada who rule the Gá-Dángme jointly and pursue the interests of the peoples tirelessly. The Three Kings must be distinguished from other mantsemei; they are actually mei-a-tsemei or me(i)atse; namely, rulers over peoples rather than mere rulers over towns or territory.
The Gá word mei (people: as in Fante-mei or Brofo-mei) is to be distinguished from man (town). Mei therefore signifies the larger group, whereas bii (children or units) signifies the sub-group as in Teshi-bii or Asere-bii. The term manche is sometimes used here to refer to the Three kings, and to distinguish the meitse from the town chief for whom the term mantse is reserved.

Clearly, then as leaders of Gá-mei and Dangme-mei, the Three Kings occupy a different rank of office from the leaders of Gá-Dángme towns. In the past the institution of the Three Kings function through the meitsemei akpee which met before every Homowo festival to review the traditional calendar, take stock of progress of their peoples over the previous year, and plan for the coming year. Although the above system operates in a variety of forms in the present age, there is a need to formalise it.

From the functions performed by each of the three sovereigns at the meitsemei akpee in the past, the following roles can be extracted. As there are two major Krobo kings, of Manya and Yilo respectively, the Krobo office rotated between them on a yearly basis. The Gá Manche, as a direct descendant of the original leaders of the Gá-Dángme acted as head, spokesperson and representative of the triumvirate; the Krobo king acted as Premier or Chief Minister; and the king of Ada was the judge and overall military commander of the Gá-Dangme. The king of Ada was also the President of the Afi adafi or yearly assembly of Gá-Dángme traditional leaders.

Below the meitsemei on the constitutional heirarchy were the mantsemei; these were divided into senior mantsemei and other mantsemei. Each mantse often, though not always, has a mankralo under him who assists in the administration of private and public affairs and deputises in the absence of the mantse. Senior mantsemei are generally the political leaders of traditional Gá-Dángme towns like Osu, Teshi, Tema, Kpone, Prampram, Ningo, Dodowa, Somanya, Odumase, Agormanya, Amedica, etc.

These chiefs often have several classes of chiefs under them, and rule large numbers of people. Thus a town chief like the Nungua Manche has under him, in order of importance, quarter chiefs, chiefs of smaller towns, village chiefs, and headmen. As the Gá-Dángme have a clearly-defined social and political structure, each of this chiefs fit neatly into a constitutional structure.

In general the quarters, preceded the town in order of formation, but principally through political leadership in times of war the town chief has gained constitutional authority over the quarter chiefs. The authority of the traditional town chief is therefore higher than that of the quarter chief who frequently occupies an older stool than that of the town chief. As a result, the various smaller towns, villages and headmen, while usually belonging to one or other of the traditional quarters also acknowledge the constitutional authoirty of the Nungua mantse, particularly in matters of jurisdiction and land.

The traditional quarters of Gá Mashi deserve special mention. As we have seen, the Gá Manche is directly descended form the original prophets who led the Gá-Dángme in their areas of origin and through the migratory journeys into their present location in Ghana. Throughout the the history of the Gá in particular, various lineages have been closely identified as the descendants of the original sub-leaders of the party of migrants.

These lineages gradually developed into core political groups closely associated with the Gá sovereign. In time, princes of the Gá royal household who lost out in the succession to become Gá manche were commissioned to rule the various Gá Mashi quarters; and encouraged even to intermarry with the founders of of the various alatas.

The Gá-Mashi quarters therefore occupy a special position in the traditional constitution; they are in effect princedoms or principalities which enjoy a special relationship with the Ga Manche. Moreover, as in the case of the traditional towns, the Ga Mashi princedoms also have under them large numbers of people as well as smaller towns, villages and headmen; and are therefore constituionally at par with the large towns. The fore-going constitutional arrangement has implications for politico-military power. Law-making and political power are concentrated in the hands of the king/chief and his councillors or elders; military power is, in the first instance, vested in the principal military captains or shipi of the various quarters who form an authority known as the Akwashong.

In times of war the power of the Akwashong was such that major political decisions could not be taken without consulting the Akwashong; the Akwashongtse or head of the Akwashong therefore exercised enormous political power. However, ultimate military authority is vested in the king; only the king and his councillors could sanction war.

In times of peace the Akwashong usually functions as a court of arbitration and serious criminal offences. When exercising its judicial functions the Akwashong sits at Mojawe (literally "house of blood"). It usually conciliates opposing sides in political and other disputes involoving the various Gá-Dángme towns and quarters; it also tries serious criminal offences including treason and murder.

The enlistment or recruitment of troops was a matter for the companies. Each company or ta-ku (asafo) was headed by a asafoiatse who in turn relied on heads of families and the akutso or neighbourhood network for troops (tabiloi) and logistics.On the battlefield, nothing but utter fearlessness and courage were expected of each Gá-Dángme soldier or tabilor Warriors on the war-front are especially said to be possessed by the war spirit, Dade-krama; and to exhibit supreme qualites of hekáh (fighting spirit) and hewah (courage). The individual soldier usually carries a simple musket and in the earliest wars, donned a turtle-shell for armour. He also carried a supply of food and some water; his bullets were carried in a deer-skin pouch, and he held a spear for close combat.

Before the troops advance the war has to be "boiled" by the king and chiefs who consult the major war gods of Sakumo, Lakpa and Kotokro. Reindorf described the process thus:

A large pot is set on fire; the names or souls of the principal and powerful men of the enemy are called out and caught by means of enchantment. For every name, a piece of stone or any other thing is taken to represent it, and then put into the pot. When all are thus named, represented and caught, some leaves and other things are added to them in the pot to get boiled. When boiling, if the pot happens to burst, then the enemy is more powerful. The practice is repeated, till they are satisfied that the enemy is got weakened. After this every body feels encouraged and spirited to fight and conquer.

Various oracles were also consulted by the principal military leaders and chiefs; while the troops resorted to their own means of supernatural protection. The names of great kings were invoked; the process was repeated in every household where the ancestors and the recently departed were called upon to protect the living and give them superhuman courage. Once these had been done the army felt fortified to enter into battle. The result of the feverish preparation for war and the various religious rituals was to invoke divine protection and to spark in every heart a fighting spirit which drove the men to fight on fearlessly. According to some authorities the priests were bound to accompany the men into battle. During the campaign he acted as foretelling priest, advisor and doctor.

The Gá-Dángme kings, chiefs and religious leaders derived revenue from a variety of sources to maintain their power. Under the earlier rule of the foretelling priests, payment for the use of land and the access routes to the towns were the chief sources of revenue. Ferry tolls, collections for the use of sacral sites, markets and public performance grounds or mandzranó constituted other sources.

Vestiges of the old system of revenue collection can be seen in the payment today to the Nai Wulomo and other wulomei for the use of markets and the high seas (bele-naa-nin). The right to revenue collection from markets is publicly demonstrated when the wulomei symbolically empower the youth during the annual ayekoo ceremony to exercise a right to portions of all wares and market goods. The right of the wulomei is exercisable over all markets within the realm of the Gá-Dángme and over a selection of public places, including certain car and lorry parks.

The above constitutional structure applies generally to each of the Gá-Dángme groups, including the Gá, Krobo and Ada. It is also followed with minor adaptation within the various towns and quarters; and therefore unites the Gá-Dángme peoples within a cohesive and unifying framework. Above all, it provides a strong sense of purpose and brotherhood which has always set the Gá-Dángme peoples aside as a uniquely organised and collectively motivated people. It remains to be seen how the traditional constitution and its operators respond to the changing political and socio-economic climate of modern Ghana.

The traditional constitutional order was confirmed and endorsed by all the Ga-Dangme during the period immediately prior to the great Battle of Katamanso. It was indeed, religiously sanctioned in a number of meetings at Amuginaa and Sakumotsoshishi at the end of which King Tackie Kome I was chosen as Ga Manche to lead the Ga-Dangme into war.

The culminating event took place in 1826 at the Sakumo shrine where to the hearing of the assembled political and military leaders of all the groups, towns and quarters of the Gá-Dángme, a divine voice ordained that Tackie Kome should lead the Gá-Dángme into war. This necessitated the founding of the Tackie Kome We of the Ga royal household. Significantly, it also united the household of the war deity, Sakumo, with the with the descendants of Ayi Kushi who already constituted the Teiko Tsuru We; the Gá-Dángme have never lost a war since the appointment of Tackie Kome.

The constitutional effects of the appointment of King Tackie Kome were wide-ranging; it is symbolised in the Ga royal emblem of manko ta manko nó (a kingdom upon a kingdom) and denotes the supremacy of the Abola principality and Tungmawe in particular over other subdivisions. It brought a new order and discipline in Ga-Dangme political affairs. Three ideas underpinned the new constitutional order: buleh (respect), toindzoleh (peace and tranquillity) and hedzoleh (liberty). Under the principle of buleh emphasis was laid on law and order which were traditionally seen as arising naturally from the respect of traditional institutions and the observance of the order of seniority in familial, political and religious relationships.

Toindzoleh entailed the preservation of the realm for orderly economic development; this involved the development of institutions for the peaceful resolution of disputes and the maintenance of a strong standing army to ward off potential invaders. It also entailed frequent diplomatic activity to calm political conflicts.

As a result of buleh and toindzoleh the Gá-Dángme enjoyed unprecedented personal freedom; this ensured the keeping of Accra as a freeport and that the part of the coast occupied by the Gá-Dángme became an island of tranquillity in the midst of raids and raging tribal wars elsewhere.
Traditionally, there is no greater setting for the display of the constitutional structure of the Gá-Dángme as the annual festivals of Homowo, Nmayen and Asafotufiam. On such occasions the king and his great chiefs sit in state to receive lesser chiefs who converge on the ancestral settlements. Each chief and headman presents a piece of symbolic log or lai as a token of his allegiance; he also brings an entourage of leading councillors, warriors and commonfolk to support the superior chief during the town parade and the sprinkling of traditional food.

The entire occasion is marked with great pomp and pageantry with sustained firing of musketry and with music and merriment as well as the beating of great drums or obonu. Within the various quarters and households, the process of renewal of bonds and allegiance through the presentation of lai is repeated across all manner of relationships, even between sons-in-law and their fathers-in-law. Within the palaces, the chiefs renew their own vows to seek the well-being of their subjects to the leading councillors and influential townsfolk; and settle outstanding political differences amicably.

In the past, the Gá Manche organised an annual Panmonaa (literally "Place of Deliberation") as part of the Homowo festivities during which leaders met the townfolk, considered the state of the town, and planned activities for the coming year. There was also an annual too (collection) from every Gá which was used in improving the town and providing social amenities. In the days of yore, strangers to the town who wished to be assimilated into the group formally presented themselves to the political or religious authorities during the festal season and, if found to be sufficiently loyal and of good repute, were assigned to specific quarters whose set of names he or she adopted for his children. Residents, both subject and stranger, who with proven records of service to the group and with a sufficiently large following could apply to be made wetse, entitling them formally to set up their own we or traditional household. In this way individuals advanced their own chances of joining the group of town councillors.

Each quarter, town, principality or village often has a number of royal households; in appointing the King or a chief the royal households play a critical role. Firstly, the Gyase and kingmakers decide, by a process of rotation, the appropriate royal household to nominate a candidate. The heads of royal household concerned then consider a list of candidates on the basis of a set of criteria, including lineage, intelligence, judgment, courage, and various leadership qualities. Inevitably this frequently involves fine distinctions between the various candidates. Increasingly, therefore, factors like level of education, conduct, achievement to date and overall social standing constitute a secondary set of criteria for determining eligibility for leadership. In practice, most kingmakers tend to have a rule of thumb, vaguely described as the "presence of the spirit of leadership" in determining which candidate accedes to high office. In case of a tie it is sometimes said that the rightful candidate is revealed to the kingmakers in the course of prayer; this, it is said, often resolves difficulties between competing factions.

All things being equal, candidates above the age of thirty are preferred; the most cited reason being that enough would be known about such an individual's conduct, social standing and actual or potential achievements to enable the kingmakers to make a good choice. On the other hand, it is argued that choosing a younger candidate could be pure lottery as his conduct, political skills and general intelligence and faculties could still be at the ripening stage; although he might be of the purest morals and gravest deportment, particularly prior to attaining the age of majority, there is no knowing how the pressures of office might affect a young person.

It ought to be borne in mind that the traditional system does not enjoy the advantage of the European practice of primogeniture where the first-born of the appropriate parents generally tends to inherit the throne. In the Gá-Dángme system the king/chief could be drawn from a wide selection of candidates. Therefore, there is little opportunity to concentrate on a particular individual from birth and make certain that he is tutored and afforded the opportunity of developing into a king/chief.

It appears that King Okaikoi and his predecessors and immediate successors instituted a formal system of training for princes which attracted not only the sons of the Gá-Dángme chiefs, but also princes from Akwamu and elsewhere. A Gá-Dángme royal academy would go a long way towards strengthening traditional institutions and enable traditional functionaries to acquire knowledge in local administration way beyond what prevails at present.

Gá-Dángme Property

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
The universal division of property into immovable property or realty and movable property or chattels is recognised in the traditional law of the Gá-Dangme. Immovable property is subdivided into land and house; and a broad distinction is recognised between mere chattels and valuable chattels like chattels gold ornaments, kente cloth, tools of trade, and industrial plant.

Further, it should be appreciated that there is a distinction in traditional law between ancestral property and self-acquired property; the distinction applies to both realty and chattels. Thus a gold-ring maybe part of an ancestral heirloom which is retained by the family and used on ceremonial occasions. Property in things acquired by ancestors and bequeathed or devised to the family in common remains vested in the extended family and cannot be validly sold on by individual members of the family to third parties. On the other hand, self-aquisitions may be freely sold by the acquirer.

The concepts of ownership, possession, custody and control as well as waste and improvement to land and other property were well known in traditional notions of property. On the whole, ownership aros out of original acquisition or legitimate transfer by way of gift inter vivos, purchase, etc. Where by expending labour or through the exercise of superior mental powers or business skills an individual reduced a piece of previously unowned land into their possession, generated a product or developed an artistic motif, traditional law rules were developed to allow them to retain ownership of such land, product or motif.
Thus if Tettey, a stool-subject, regularly farmed on a piece of land, building a dwelling house on part of the land, and regularly defended his farm and home against intruders and trespassers, the traditional law recognised that he had acquired title to such land. Such title was both alienable and heritable.

However, to support and confirm Tettey's title against all comers he was required to formally approach the village leaders for a confirmation of his title. As a stool-subject he paid a token amount of money and presented an assortment of drinks to mark and publicise the occasion. The leaders ensured that Tettey's land was carefully demarcated from the holdings of others; therefore, his neighbours might be called to witness the ceremony and to raise any objections they might have. Subsequently Tettey could call upon both his neighbours and the village leaders in disputes over his title to the land. Alternatively, Tettey could initially approach the leaders for an express grant before commencing to work the land.

If on the other hand, Tettey felled timber and made a canoe (ahima orlele) or oar out of the log by his own independent effort or by the assistance of paid individuals, the canoe or oar remained his. He acquired absolute title to it as he was responsible for its creation; he owed it of no one else. An individual could acquire a large number of things either directly in this way or by purchase, using money obtained through the sale of products created by himself. Therefore, the traditional production process was based entirely on the generation of things by individuals who acquired the original title. Things produced in this way could be sold on to several persons, but title could be established only through a chain of legitimate acquisitions from persons who had acquired the item in a direct line from persons the original creator and his buyers had dealt with.

This clear-cut picture is somewhat muddied by the communal character of the majority of traditional production. Many things were produced by family or social groups instead of individuals. In that case, the product of the collective effort was shared out at the end of production process with each individual owning what was legitimately allocated to them.

If the product was not divisible or was purposely created to be retained by the group, then members of the creating family or group acquired a collective title. If the product had an income-yielding capacity, like a canoe or house, then the concepts of improvement and waste with their consequential effects on quality influenced the final value.
Although the product may be retained by someone else yet the original producer or acquirer might still own it if there had been no legitimate process of transfer of ownership. In that case, the acquirer was recognised by the traditional law as having ownership, but not custody and possession. If on the other hand, the product was temporarily in the hands of the acquirer's apprentice then the acquirer was held to have both ownership and custody, but not possession. If, however, the product was transferred by way of sale, or consensually by way of gift the acquirer lost ownership and custody as well as possession.

Intellectual property rights in artistic motifs and the like are best illustrated today in the work of coffin makers in Nungua to the East of Accra. Taking a central motif, say a cocoa-pod or canoe, from the life of the deceased traditional coffin makers designed a casket to reflect the life and vocation of the departed. The rights to such designs, as well as to the designs of gold-smiths, state umbrella-makers and similar artists, were vested in the originator.

Gá-Dángme Marriage

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
In ancient times marriage was formalised with the approval and participation of the head of family. It normally linked the extended family to other extended families both within and without the quarter; it was therefore vital both for social cohesion and for bringing new members to the extended family through the process of kpodziemó or out-dooring. Among the Gá-Dángme marriage is a union of a man and a woman to live as husband and wife within the rules of traditional law, including the potentially polygamous character of the marriage transaction.

To be valid, traditional law marriage required the following:
Status of the parties;
Consent of the parties
Consent of the of the parents or persons in loco parentis;

Gifts or bride wealth; and the marriage should not breach any of the rules of consanguinity.
To contract a valid marriage the parties should be of the appropriate age and status. Girls are usually considered ready for marriage once they complete their education or apprenticeship. In the olden days many girls married as soon as they attained the age of puberty, but the practice is now generally frowned upon. Men may marry once they complete their apprenticeship or have learnt a trade and are capable of independently generating their own income. However, many men choose to acquire some basic property before contracting a marriage.

As individuals remain firmly within the structure of the extended family, the extended families often exercise enormous control over the young unmarried person. The parents of a young man frequently influence his choice of wife, sometimes even recommending a particular girl whose character and family are well-known to them.

Should either or both parents be dead, or should they be incapable of properly acting on behalf of their son an influential uncle or prominent figure in the figure may take it upon himself to contract a marriage for the young man. Such an individual frequently continues to exercise some influence over the young couple, often advising them on matrimonial problems and counselling them on how to raise their children.
The agreement of the parties to marry is usually a straightforward matter, providing there are both of ages and can support themselves financially. In that case, if a man wishes to take a girl as wife he initially requires her consent. If such consent is forthcoming, the man then approaches the girl's family either directly or through persons acting on his behalf. The family's consent may be withheld for a number of reasons: they may feel themselves socially superior to the man and his family; that the man is incapable of supporting their daughter; or simply object to some factor in the man's background.

The man's initial approach to the family of the girl is known as the shibimo; it the Gá-Dángme equivalent of the English banns. The shibimo advertises to relatives and the world that a woman has been promised to a particular man. The girl is discreetly advised to be less familiar with adults of the opposite sex.

Once the shibimo has been carried out, the man my take a number of other steps to conclude the marriage. He first gets his family to present two sets of gifts to the woman's family: the agbo-shimó (literally, "request to enter") and ebaa-tsee (literally, "fig-leaf") gifts. The agbo-shimo shifts simply puts the girl's family on notice of the man's intention of marrying her; and ebaa-tsee further puts potential suitors on notice of the fact that the girl has been promised to someone else the girl advertises the ebaa-tsee to others may by habitually appearing in public in adult attire and adorning herself jewels given by the man.
Once the above stages have been completed a date may be fixed for the ga-woo or engagement. The ga-woo represents a firm encroachment of English ideas on Gá-Dángme notions of marriage, the Bible and gold ring being the principal gifts. The Bible indicates the man's intenetion to convert the traditional marriage into a Christian marriage should his future circumstances allow. In the meantime, however, it remains a potentially polygamous traditional marriage; and the man enter into further marital relationships with other women. In practice, the wife's consent may be necessary for further marriages, although the traditional law does not strictly require it.

The gá-woo proper is an all-women's affair; one set of women carry over gifts from the family house or residence of the man to the family house of the girl where they are met and entertained by another set of women. If the girl belongs to the Krobo sub-group of the Dángme, a small stool is included in the gifts. this symbolises the stabilising role of the wife in ensuring that the matrimonial home becomes the seat of the new family and a point to which the children may always return in later life.

Once the ga-woo has been successfully carried out in this way the women return home rejoicing and carrying sundry tokens of the happy occasion. Thereafter the couple may freely co-habit and consummate the marriage without undergoing a wedding or kpeemo. In the present age most-weddings are celebrated in church. In the past the traditional Gá-Dángme wedding was celebrated at the residence of the wulomo. The parties dressed in white, the national colour of the Gá-Dángme and were accompanied to the wulomo's shrine by relatives and friends. The high priest administered the shibimo shiwo vows to them and sprinkled water on them ritually.

The shibimo vow consisted of a series of undertakings by the couple to strive continually for the success of the new relationship; to bring up their children righteously; to devote themselves daily to the intellectual and moral development of the children; and to jointly work hard and ceaselessly to make the children the proud possessors of a worthy heritage.

The above is generally the procedure for contracting marriage to a maiden, but there are exceptional situations. The first is the marriage of an elderly couple; frequently such persons have no desire to attract the publicity of a public event to themselves. There is therefore usually only a discreet exchange of gifts between the extended families.

However, where a woman co-habits with a man merely as a mistress or jolley she may not expect any special treatment by the man's extended family. This has not stopped several women from openly parading themselves as the mistresses of particularly wealthy men, and probably hoping thereby to come into some property at a future date.

If the mistress is sufficiently wily she may get the man to lavish expensive gifts and ornaments on her; gifts made to such women, being tokens of love, are not recoverable upon the termination of the relationship. A variation of the jolley theme is where a man takes a sweet-heart or lorbi and discreetly maintains her during the subsistence of his own marriage. The rights of the lorbi are the same as those of the jolley; however, gifts inter vivos to a jolley or lorbi are valid.

Another exception occurs where a girl is discovered to be with child prior to marriage. In that case the family makes careful enquiry of the girl. Once it has been established that a particular individual is responsible for the pregnancy, his family is approached. If they consult their son and thereafter accept responsibility, agbo-shimo and ebaa-tsee gifts my be presented, entitling the man's family to claim the child.

The Gá-Dángme does not demand expensive gifts as bride wealth. Two basic forms of marriage are contracted depending on the size of the gift: two-cloth marriage and six-cloth marriage. A two-cloth marriage results from a marriage transaction conducted in the normal way. A six-cloth marriage is a different affair; the man usually announces that he intends the marriage to be a six-cloth marriage and therefore offers thrice the bride wealth demanded in an ordinary marriage. The wife of a six-cloth marriage acquires special status; should the husband contract any further marriages she is considered the senior and privileged wife. The children of a six-cloth marriage tend to have special prerogatives in the enjoyment of the father's property during his life-time.

To be valid, a traditional marriage should not breach any of the rules of consanguinity recognised by the people. Because of existing rules of exogamy, individuals may not marry a wide class of persons, including cousins, the siblings of step-sisters and brothers, uterine brothers and sisters and their children.
The traditional drink or nma-daa (millet-drink, but now invariably made from corn) together with imported schnapps or gin play an essential part in the marriage transaction; without it no traditional marriage can be said to have been properly conducted. Bottles of schnapps and gin accompany the emissaries who first apprise the girl's family of the marriage proposal.

Various items may be represented by sums of money and handed over to the girl's family in addition the man may present a special gift such as a sewing machine to his prospective wife. Nma-daa is used as a celebratory drink, drank particularly at the conclusion of each stage of the marriage transaction.
Once a marriage has been successfully concluded, the girl either goes to reside with the man or co-habits with him on appointed days. The later is normally the case where the man has other wives. The children of the marriage, although members of the extended family of the man, also play a role in the mother's extended family. During their youth the children may reside with either parent, if both parents do not share a common residence. However, where the father owns property they may reside there, particularly during adolescence and while learning a trade.

During the subsistence of the marriage the husband remains the head of the household, and is under obligation to bring the children up according to the moral precepts of the Gá-Dangme. He must protect the family from physical danger; inculcate the values of the community in the children, particularly boys; instruct them and ensure their intellectual development; and secure their futures financially.
On the birth of each child he or she is formally afflicted to the father's extended family through the kpodziemó or outdooring ceremony. On that occasion members of the child's maternal and paternal families assemble in the courtyard of the parent's house or the ancestral home. The purpose of the gathering is to formally introduce the child to the lineage and to the community. He or she is given a name derived from the father's line. The Gá-Dángme maintains an alternate generation system of nomenclature; as a rule children are given the names of the grandfather and those of the grandfather’s brothers and sisters. Also, a child may be given a day name or the name of an illustrious ancestor.

Other aspects of the kpodziemó ceremony are to bless the child and to offer prayers for his success in life and longevity. A man or woman of exemplary character is usually selected to perform the blessing ceremony for the child; children are often said to take after the personality and qualities of the individual who performs the ceremony.

Gá-Dángme Divorce

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
As might be expected many marriages end in dissolution; as a result clear rules have over time been formulated to regulate divorce. We need not delve into the reasons why matrimonial bliss might suddenly turn to bitterness and acrimony. We need only state that occasional disagreement is natural to the marital condition. When, however, a couple's problems persist and all attempts at solution fail, a divorce might be considered. In the meantime, however, all manner of individuals would have attempted to conciliate the parties.

Where the parties are unable to reconcile their differences either of them amy approach a third party, usually a trusted relative or friend who would seek to the advice the couple on an informal basis. If matters do not improve, the parties' parents might be approached; the grievance of each party is then considered and proposals for improvement put forward.

If the relationship continues to deteriorate a few other advisors might be considered; but ultimately the conclusion might be reached that the parties are incapable of continuing as marriage partners.
The above is generally the case where no clear-cut ground of divorce can be cited by either party. In a number of cases, however, one party might be aggrieved the specific conduct of the other and cites that as the ground of divorce. Grounds of divorce under this head include: Adultery; Desertion; Cruelty;

The husband's inability to maintain his wife and children; or the wife's inability to maintain a proper home;
Disobedience to the husband or to respected members of his family, and; Inability to carry out marital obligations.

A husband's adultery with an unmarried woman is usually no ground for divorce at the instance of the wife; this is because under traditional law a man may marry a number of women. However, a wife's adultery is a ground for divorce. If the husband chooses to condone adulterous behaviour he may nevertheless demand adultery fee or ayifale from the paramour. The wife's behaviour is reported to her family; and she may be required to slaughter a sheep in pacification of the husband. In the past, the sheep-skin was permanently placed at the foot of the marital bed to remind the wayward wife of the obligation to keep to the straight and narrow.

Desertion or abandonment of one's wife and children is a ground for divorce under traditional law. It was the husband's duty to feed and cloth his wife and children. When he ceases to undertake these responsibilities; and particularly when stops visiting the wife and children, he is deemed to have deserted the wife who then becomes entitled to start divorce proceedings. Where the couple lived under the same roof desertion could commence with the expulsion of the wife whereupon she would return to her own family house with or without her children.

Cruelty takes many forms, ranging from denial of conjugal rights to wife-beating and husband-battering. Occasional acts and omissions perceived by one party to be cruel may be tolerated; however, where cruelty becomes a regular feature of the marriage the affected party may seek divorce.

A husband's inability to maintain his wife and children or a wife's inability to carry out domestic responsilities constitute another ground of divorce. Upon marriage, a husband is deemed to have assumed responsibility for providing for his wife and children. Where a man's family is in the eyes of the world left destitute and in permanent need of the necessaries of life, the man is considered to have woefully failed to meet his responsibilities. In the same vein a wife is assumed to have acquired the skills and knowledge to fully the duties of housewifery and child-care; inability to demonstrate such skill and knowledge may entitle the husband to divorce.

Obedience to in-laws and influential members of the husband's family are considered a sign of a wife's good conduct. A wife who uses vituperative language and shows no respect for in-laws and respected family members is considered liable to influence the husband negatively; and soon gets into trouble with the husband's extended family.

It is further feared that such a wife might turn her children against the extended family; the extended family therefore readily supports a husband's bid to divorce a wife on grounds of disobedience to family members. Husband's who fail to take decisive action against such wife's are regarded as hen-pecked, and frequently reminded of the aphorism: gbla taa eshweó weku or "a marriage may be dissolved but the extended family remains."

A party to a marriage may be rendered incapable of carrying out his or her marital duties due to a variety of reasons. Impotence and sterility renders a spouse physically incapable of carrying out the expectations of a marriage and are grounds of divorce in traditional law. In the past other factors, such as witchcraft, especially when it was alleged to result in the continuous death of children, were considered as rendering a party psychologically incapable of carrying out the expectations of marriage.

Where a marriage is dissolved through no fault of the wife a man may not recover any of any gifts or expenses made or incurred when the marriage was contracted; on the other hand, a wife initiates a divorce, particularly in order to marry a lover she is liable to return the husband's gifts and other expenses incurred in contrating the marriage. Once these have been returned to the husband's family the marriage is formally considered to have ended, and either party may enter into a new contract of marriage to another person.

Although the King is not directly concerned with marriage and divorce, appeals from heads of families and quarter chiefs ultimately lies to the king's tribunal. For that reason the royal tribunal has opportunity, from time to time, to re-state the traditional rules of marriage and divorce.

The law of persons

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
Since ancient Gá-Dángme law applied principally to persons belonging to the Gá-Dángme nation particular rules were formulated to define who was a Gá-Dangme. A Gá-Dángme person was generally recognised as one who being born of Gá-Dángme parents, belonged to a particular weku or extended family. Ordinarily, it was easy from Gá-Dángme nomenclature to establish the address, antecedents and lineage of the individual. The Gá-Dángme name was coded in such a way that people familiar with the society could tell immediately the quarter and lineage from which an individual hailed as well as his rank in the immediate family.

Thus, an individual named Kotey is easily recognizable as a first born male hailing either from the Jorshi lineage of Asere in Gá Mashi or from Klan-naa (Hyena-side) in Labadi. Such an individual was clearly subject to Gá-Dángme traditional law. Persons of part Gá-Dángme origin were also subject to traditional law, provided the subject-matter of the dispute has any connection with Gá-Dángme territory.

Foreigners were subject to Gá-Dángme traditional law where the dispute involved land or a serious crime. A civil dispute between foreign parties could be tried in a traditional provided the parties so agree. In the case of foreigners who had either actually assimilated into Gá-Dángme society or were deemed to have become assimilated, jurisdiction lay with the traditional authorities, especially where the individual had severed all ties with his place of origin and his or her parents had lived and died on Gá-Dángme soil.
As we have observed, the individual is linked to the Gá-Dángme socio-political system through the weku; generally speaking, this consists of all persons descended in the direct male line through a common or hypothetical ancestor. Individuals are accountable to the family elders, normally comprising respected members of the oldest living generation.

In particular, the Weku Yitso or head of family exercises enormous moral pressure on other members of the family to conform to social rules and convention and to retain for the family and untarnished image. Erring members, if they cannot be brought to heel by their own parents and siblings, are frequently called before the head of family and counselled.

The weku expands through the birth of new members; but occasionally an individual may decide to adopt a child unrelated to the family. As an adopted persons becomes a full member fo the extended family, the adoption is usually well-publicised to fellow members. The consent of the elders and the head of family are necessary to make the adoption valid. This is because the adoption may have consequences for succession to the propert of the adoptive parents, with necessary disinheritance of other members of the family.
Partly because of the implications of adoption for succession, fostering is much more widely practised among the Gá-Dangme; it involves the placing of a young relative or stranger in the home of the individual fosterer. The child resides in the new home and is brought up as a member of the family but has no rights of succession, and upon attaining the age of majority may rejoin his or her natural family.

On the other hand, an individual may in extreme circumstances severe ties with his or her own weku; the practice, known as tako mlifoo, is rare and is frowned upon. It is usually preceded by acrimony and ugly disagreements over family issues. Once an individual severes ties with his or her extended family in this way, he or she harbours no expectation of succession to the property of other members of the family; but he or she may insist upon the partitioning of any property to which he or she may be entitled. Also, the individual avoids the social gatherings of his or her ex-family, including weddings, funerals and suchlike.
During times of peace and harmony within the extended family, it functions as a social support system for the members. It provides a residence, a common pool of funding to underwrite funerals and other expenses, holds a common feast on festive occasions and in the head of family supports and represents the individual during marriage, provides a venerable personage to act on behalf of the individual in grave social matters.
The adebo-shia, usually located in the ancestral quarter, provides a common residence for members of the weku although few choose to reside there. However, many feel a deep sentimental attachment to the adebo-shia and converge there on festive occasions when they catch up on the latest news in the old quarter and renew acquaintances with childhood friends. Thus, many members of the family happily contribute carpentry and other repair works to the old family houses and are perenially concerned about the poorer kin who tend to occupy the family houses.

During funerals the family houses acquire special importance; the body is conveyed to the family house where it is laid in state overnight to be viewed friends and relatives who fill the family house with mourning and lamentation. The family house itself may be specially refurbished for the occasion, and all branches of the family congregate to the funeral both to observe funeral rites and to make a contribution towards expenses.

Family members may also contribute towards other expenses incurred by the extended family. Such expenses may range from the cost of festal food to lawyer's fees. The expenses are carefully worked out and adult members of the family called upon to participate the payment of the debt. The unemployed, the sick and the disabled may be exempted, but all other members are expected to contribute; contributes are sometimes even made for persons abroad.

The Weku Yitso or head of family embodies the virtues and qualities that the family seeks to portray to the outside world. Although many rules may in practice exist as to how the head of family is appointed, he or she is normally selected from the oldest generation by the popular acclamation of his or her peers. Many heads of families are wealthy individuals with considerable influence in community affairs which they generally put to the advantage of the extended family. Thus individuals seeking apprenticeship, education, money to start up business or general advice normally consult the head of family.

In carrying out his or her duties the head of family is particularly concerned about the conduct of the family. Indeed, some believe that ensuring proper moral conduct of family members and conformity of the actions of members of the family to group-approved standards are the primary duty of the head of family.
The head of family steps in the shoes of a line of family leaders, and in overseeing family business seeks to uphold the standards and values followed by his or her predecessors. Making certain that family members live in harmony with each other is an important part of the duties of the head; he regularly consults with leading and influential members of sub-branches of the weku.

The head of family may sit in a quasi-judicial capacity over family disputes, but on the whole his duty is to conciliate in family disputes, and in the end to reconcile the parties. He carefully calls all relevant witnesses and obtains their evidence; examines each party's argument and evidence; and puts pertinent questions to clarify aspects of the case. When the head of family gives his verdict it is generally enforced, but an aggrieved party may take the case further to the quarter authorities.

The head of family also litigates the family title to land either directly or through a representative. When the head acts in this capacity he or she usually levies a contribution on the members of the family. Since the head of family is normally the one who sues and can be sued on behalf of the family, he or she tends to keep possession of legal instruments and other important documents of the family, including wills, title-deeds and birth certificates.

Gá-Dángme Chattels

BBy Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
Chattels or nibii were recognised as belonging to a separate class of property. However, the Gá-Dángme concept of chattels also recognised a distinction between crops, goods, stock-in-trade and general merchandise and other easily perishable or fungible items. Emblements or growing crops produced by the labour of the cultivator and harvested annually are considered as goods and therefore fall under the traditional law relating to chattels.

Generally speaking, only chattels of value are regarded by the Gá-Dángme as really constituting property: vehicles, capital equipment, gold and silver ornaments, furniture, cattle, household utensils, tools of trade, etc. Thus a wealthy individual or niatse may possess in addition to land and houses, mummy-trucks, cars, canoes, corn-mills, silverware, gold-chains, gold-earrings, gold bracelets, gold-rings, gold-pendants, crockery, household furniture, cattle, sheep, poultry, expensive clothing as well as other sundry items of property.

In the present age such an individual may also own a company and have industrial plant, office equipment, a current account, deposit account, bills of lading, shares, bonds, debentures and stocks and may also have taken out a life assurance policy.
Although females may also own all the items of property listed above, there are certain things which are considered to be distinctively female property. Items associated with the kitchen and housewifery such as cooking utensils and sewing machines are presumed to belong to a wife. Also, expensive cloths, including damasks, velvets and Dutch wax prints, are generally associated with women.

Traditionally, most female property was obtained with profits from market-trading. Trading therefore became a typical vocation of Gá-Dángme women; some travelled to the weekly inland markets to purchase bulk products for resale in the great urban markets such as Makola, London and Salaga markets; others made a more profitable business of achieving commercial success in the urban markets dealing in local goods and imported European produce.

Various market traders became fabulously wealthy, and in addition to erecting Italianate buildings around the city, became the mainstay of their extended families. In the bed-chamber of the successful female trader's house would normally be a wardrobe or sideboard stocked with expensive clothes, jewels and other valuables; the sideboard, with its displays of lavender and other perfumes literally became the domestic symbol of a woman's economic status. Less successful women tended to keep their personal property in trunks and boxes tucked away in the corner of the bed-chamber.

As in the case of land, personal movable acquisitions are distinguished from ancestral property. Personal acquisitions were accumulated through the personal effort or enterprise of the individual; they were entirely to be disposed by the acquirer as they choose. They may be sold, part-exchanged, pledged or given away without any interference by the extended family. Ancestral personal property, although they may be kept by an individual family member, remain the extended family's. Movable ancestral property includes shika futru (gold dust), gold ornaments, and paraphenelia of office.

Problems often arise where an individual having custody of inherited family property mixed them with their own property and disposed of them at will. Even worse, ancestral property in the possession or custody of individuals may wrongly be regarded by their children as the personal property of the parents leading to ugly disagreements upon the demise of the possessor. In some families there is a tradition of periodically calling for an account of ancestral properties in the possession of individuals; this avoids unnecessary litigation and reinforces extended family solidarity.

As indicated, an individual may own domesticated animals; birds are also owned on an extensive scale: ducks, guinea-fowl, turkey, chicken, pigeons, etc. Although birds and animals may freely mix, and even stay for a lengthy periods, with other herds and flock ownership remains vested in the owner. Different rules appear to apply to wild animals; such creatures may be freely hunted over the open plains and forests.
The hunter owns the body of animals killed on unoccupied and uncultivated ground. Where a wild is caught in this way and kept in captivity for a considerable period, but escapes the original capturer retains his right to ownership provided the identity of the animal can be established. The right to kill burrowing animals, such as hares and rabbits vests in the owner of the land on which they are found. The owner is entitled to a half share of all animals killed or captured by his permission; he is equally entitled to a half share of crops plucked from self-sown perrenial trees on his plot. The hindlegs of wild animals killed in the uncultivated fields and forests belong to the chief or headman of the area.

Owners of private creeks as well as traditional priests exercise similar rights to catches of fish. Rights to catches from creeks are best developed in the Ada area; there individuals are permitted to fish in private creeks for small quantities of fish on the understanding that the owner is entitled to a fifth of the total catch. The Nai Wulomo exercises a right to a quantity of all commercial fish landed on the beaches of Accra; fish given to the Nai Wulomo in this way is known as bele naa loo and the right to it is known as bele naa loo kómo.

Finally, the Korle Wulomo has the prerogative of casting the first few nets when the fishing season commences in the Korle lagoon. It was suggested that the Sakumo Wulomo exercises a similar right over the Sakumo lagoon. The rights of the high priests extend to salt and other commercial produce. These rights of the high priests are vestiges of their former powers as leaders of the Gá-Dángme and owners of the land. However, individuals may freely trap fiddler crabs and land crabs, pick crustaceans and use cast-nets without the necessity of giving portions to the high priests.
During the herring and sardine season in August (Obué) owners of fishing canoes may occasionally let them to a crew of fishermen who give them a third of the catch. Each crew member brings his own oars (tabló) and stock of food; the crew may collectively own the fishing gear. Where they also borrow the fishing net and gear of the owner of the canoe, the owner becomes entitled to two-thirds of the total catch comprising mainly sardines (kankanma) and herring (mann).

The above arrangement known as nimaa is similar to the English concept of bailment or renting of movable property. It extends to capital equipment and income yielding devices such as hunting rifles, seine nets (tsani), cornmills, sewing machines and mummy-trucks. In each case, the bailee is granted use of the property for a specified period, and is obliged to share his profits with the bailor.

Emblements and fungibles were usually measured by the basket or kenten, being being baskets of various sizes for measuring out fixed quantities; in the case of maize or corn, an olonka or measuring tin was used. The concept of kenten was frequently employed notionally. Thus certain profits-á-prendre inuring to the owner of land was often worked out in terms of an actual or notional basket. Therefore mushrooms, herbs, vegetables forming part of such profits may be measured in terms of notional baskets.

Gá-Dángme Land and Property

By Dr Nii Armarh Aryeh
Land or shikpon is considered the most important form of property, being largely permanent and indestructible. As the shikpon of the Gá-Dángme was collectively acquired through original settlement and uninterrupted ownership, the ultimate title to all Gá-Dángme land is vested severally in the Three Kings upon the approval of whose predecessors in office the various quarters were allocated their portions of land. It is emphasised that the quarters did not acquire any land by separate effort from that of the mantso; traditional rules that tend to give the impression that some quarters own their territory separately from the overall mantso are based on notions of possession rather than original acquisition.
The notion of land in traditional Gá-Dángme law includes the earth itself, its features and all that grows, covers or is attached to it, such as plants, herbs, wells, pits, creeks, lakes, rivers and houses. Given the variety of landscapes in Gá-Dángme territory, there is often a striking contrast between different kinds of land. Thus the forest areas to the north (koo) and the intermediate plains (nná) are in stark contrast both to which other and to land along the sea coast or nsho-gonno).
Typical Ga-Dangme territory is covered by stunted vegetation and grassland scattered with mango, baobab, palm and cashew trees, and in the rural and semi-rural areas with occasional farm patches. Anthills, streams, rivers, and other physical features formed natural boundaries. In certain areas place-names are based on physical geographic features of the locality: Korle Gonno (Korle's hill), Dzorwulu (Big Valley), Faase (Beyond the river), Tesano (On the rocks), Teshi (Beneath the rocks), etc. Traditionally, land was sold in parcels or kpaa measured in abasam or arm-lengths.
Following the decline of Ayawaso Gá settlements were concentrated along the sea coast, particularly near the European forts; the Dangme maintained settlements in several large inland towns as well as along the riverine areas of the Volta. The sale and development of Gá-Dángme lands have tended to follow particular trends and directions away from the earliest settlements.
Title to land could be acquired in any of the following ways:
Original settlement; Accession; Conquest; Prescriptive acquisition; and Purchase from the original acquirers.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Empowering the Renaissance of Ga-Dángme through Education

Speech delivered by Mr. A.K. Armah, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana, Legon,
at the 2009 Durbar of the Gá-Dángme University of Ghana Students Association,
Saturday, 18th April, 2009, Central Cafeteria Forecourt, University of Ghana.

Mr. Chairperson, (Seinotalor), Niimei, Naamei, Legon Skul wulu mlibii, Suoloi ke Nyemimei.

I would like to subtitle my speech this morning “Education and Gá-Dángme Development” and would like to limit the definition of education to formal education that is, going to school over several years to develop your God-given skills and talents to make you a useful citizen to society.

Without education development in any sphere of life or activity cannot be meaningful. Indeed, sustainable development depends on the level of education of a society and its ability to improve or grow as the prevailing circumstances also change.

Education is undoubtedly the powerful tool that holds the key to success in life. It enables you to access an unparalleled source of information to make strategic decisions. Indeed, any lasting strategic decisions must be backed by informed and accurate information which can stand the test of time.

Affirmative Action and Education
Like all undertakings, formal education requires investing time and money in oneself or one’s dependents. The future of the Gá-Dángme’s rests squarely on the quality and quantity of our kinsmen who receive formal training and earn sustainable incomes. Traditionally and historically, the vocation of Gá-Dángme’s has been and is farming, fishing and trading. White-collar jobs which require formal training in skills development and ability to write and communicate effectively in English emerged with arrival and colonization of the continent by the Europeans. These jobs were seen as commanding more respect and also financially more rewarding. So, our farmer and fishermen parents strived hard to send their children to school. In Accra, both public and private schools were established and at the beginning of the 19th Century, though these schools were few, they were accessible and affordable to many of the ordinary Gá-Dángme parents who wanted his child to have some basic education. As the years rolled by, increasingly, the opportunities for the Gá-Dángme child especially in Accra and Tema, to gain admission in even the cheaper public schools have become very very difficult. The repercussion on the Gá-Dángme youth of today is not far to find. It is staring at our faces everyday in the traditional Ga Quarters of Greater Accra. Hundreds of our youth are jobless because of the denial of the opportunity to have access to formal education. Competition for the few public schools has become keener than before with the sky-rocketing growth rate of the population of the capital city, to the extent that the Gas, in particular, have become so marginalized on our own land such that, disproportionately higher numbers cannot gain access to even the less expensive and affordable public schools.

The public schools I know of when I was a school boy several years ago have not seen any appreciable change in size though large expanses of land surround these schools, which we call scornfully SYTO. All the way from Tema to Kokrobite, the story is the same. Aayalolo and Mamprobi Sempe cluster of schools are glaring examples. These raises a few pertinent questions which I will not attempt to provide answers. Yours will be as good as mine.

QUESTIONS:
1. What has prevented past successive government authorities in expanding the physical structures so that more children will have the opportunity of acquiring basic education?
2. To what extent have we the, older generation, been vocal and used our influence to bring the needed change in the provision of education to our children of today.

Basic education, though important, should be complemented with secondary and tertiary education for our people to be able to meet the challenges of our time. Ga Mashie, Korle Gonno, Osu, La, Teshie, Nungua, Tema, Kpone, Prampram, Ada, Somanya, Dodowa, Krobo-Odumase etc etc all need to have new secondary schools based on the principle of affirmative action to serve the poor and the neglected who because of their poor financial position are at a competitive disadvantage.

There is also, another compelling reason in establishing such “affirmative” schools. Such schools, for example, could have the mandate to ensure that the culture of the Gá-Dángme’s, principally the use of the language is made compulsory and the only local language to be taught. In this way, the language will be kept from adulteration and indeed preserved in the face the massive unrelenting influx of several people of different ethnic origin into the capital city, year in and year out. In this respect, Mr. Chairperson, I would like to say a few words on the role of the print and electronic media.

The Print and Electronic media (role in language preservation and development)
Several years ago, though not so long ago, there was a popular Ga Newsletter called Mansralor. Some of the religious bodies, for example, The Presbyterian Church, also used to publish a magazine in Ga and other languages. These served as a major tool in the education of the Gá-Dángme people, not only through the articles themselves, but also in promoting our knowledge of the grammar and constructional usage of the Ga language.

One question I would like us to ponder over is: how can we bring back this magazine and similar literature and also make their publication sustainable???

My next concern is out of the over 25 FM Radio Stations operating in Greater Accra. Besides Obonu Fm 96.5 which is dedicated to the Gá-Dángme people, only Vibe Fm 91.9fm, Radio Universe 105.7fm and Meridian Fm 100.5fm have extensive programmes in the Gá-Dángme language. I would be very happy to see the appropriate national authority make it compulsory for all FMs operating in Accra give a minimum number of hours of broadcasting in the local Ga language on daily basis. Even with the OBONU FM, sometimes the number and duration of foreign music played is quite disturbing. All music played MUST portray Gá-Dángme culture or have some element of it. The lyrics also serve as an important source of rich Gá-Dángme poetry as well oral tuition, not to mention the advertisement it gives on the language itself to the non-Gá-Dángme.

Mr. Chairperson, one of the issues raised on the teaching of the Ga Language is the unavailability of teachers.

Getting teachers to teach Gá-Dángme
I have heard from several quarters that most schools do not teach Ga in Accra schools because there are insufficient Ga teachers. I think this is an excuse to weaken and annihilate any signs of our cultural heritage which is basically our LANGUAGE and LAND.

I would like to say without any doubt that there are several Gá-Dángme’s who can effectively teach the language effectively without having undergone any formal training in teaching Ga as a language. I am certainly and I can count several of us even in this very gathering. I am sure when the clarion call is made there will be hundreds of Gá-Dángme’s who will be prepared to sacrifice their time to teach the language even on week-ends if necessary. Several retired and active Gá-Dángme’s I know and have spoken to, indeed, have indicated their availability and willingness to assist. What are we waiting for?

Land matters
One may wonder the connection between land and education. There is a lot in common. I started this speech by drawing a link between poor education opportunity for the Gá-Dángme’s and the intense financial competition for both private and public schools In Accra, in particular. Fishing as a livelihood of the Gá-Dángme’s is in a terrible state. We have all heard of the paired – trawling and other intense pressures on the living marine resources which have made the average fisherman in Ghana a miserable person. Today the adage that: When you teach a man to fish you have fed him for life, no longer holds for the fisherman at Jamestown, Chorkor nor Ada! You are rather leading him down the road to starvation and deprivation. Because there is not enough fish for him to make a decent living, let alone have enough to send his child to school!!!

Unfortunately, we have sold the bulk of our lands to our own detriment!!! Our children have no place build houses to stay in, and neither do we, the living today, even can say we have decent resting place when we are called by our creator to eternity. Even burying our own kinsmen in our own cemeteries have become financial nightmares for several families. Why should a son of Osu pay high sums of money to bury his own brother in his own ancestral land, simply because of high demand for graves due to influx of other groups? I think it is about time we dedicated cemeteries’ exclusively to our own people. Cemeteries are not only burial places but with their epitaphs of the buried, go also the history of the people who lived in Gá-Dángme land.

What we have left, perhaps, is the little but VALUABLE land left. Yes, extremely valuable land. Last Thursday, we read the headlines of the biggest newspapers about the land officially released to the Nungua people by Government and also the commotion that followed created by the Nungua youth. The newspaper report explained the source of the agitation by the youth as the rumour or plans by the Chiefs to sell the land released to a major estate developer in Accra. Their concern, which I agree with, is the deprivation of land for the young and the several yet unborn Nungua citizens.

We need money to provide the quality education we desire for Gá-Dángme’s. The choice lands that the Government has decided to return to the original owners must be valued and used as equity for large scale investment on the land itself. Profits accruing from the venture should be used for the welfare of the people. This should include first and foremost funds for: 1. educational scholarships, 2. development and 3. traditional authority upkeep as well keeping a minimum of 20 % for posterity. I believe it is appropriate to call on Government to insist on the formation of a transparent independent business entity under the auspices of the respective traditional authorities and charged with the prudent management of all lands to be released for the benefit of all. Otherwise, despite all the good intentions; this will be an exercise with very little hope for future generations.

Conclusion
We are a great people with massive accomplishments. But as Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

The success of empowering the renaissance of the Gá-Dángme through education, I should say, does not depend on numbers, but commitment and a price to pay. We absolutely must be prepared to pay that price for this great moral and business enterprise of ensuring that lands and other property are invested as equity to generate profit for the benefit of all generations, else posterity will not forgive us.

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker (Helen Keller). Let us all resolve to give our individual tiny push for the advancement and the ultimate glory of Gá-Dángme mei.

Nyeyi wala donn!