The Making of an African King: Patrilineal and Matrilineal Struggle among the Effutu of Ghana
- Book Review,
by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
From the Back Cover
In the West, the primacy of patrilineal succession is so deeply entrenched that the thought of supplanting that with matrilineal succession would bc unthinkable. But that is exactly the situation among the Guan community of Winneba, Ghana called the Effutu. Their ancient patrilineal system of succession is in contention with the matrilineal succession practiced by their populous Akan neighbors. In a larger context chieftaincy disputes, or better yet, kingship rivalry is endemic in Ghana, particularly among the Akan. Each year the government commits considerable resources to combat these rivalries that sometimes result in conflicts and inter-ethnic warfare. These conflicts may be caused by rivalry among the members of the same family vying for the kingship. Affluent non-royals or those with remote ties to royalty may buy their way to power. A tributary king, or the descendants of a family that was given a sanctuary by the king whose land their ancestors occupied may then contest the kingship. What this book does is examine the two competing systems and their political ramifications, and, ultimately, establish the rightful heirs to the stool of the lion (Gyata). While the book focuses on the Effutu, it is a classic example of Ghanaian royal politicking. It takes an in-depth religio-historical and political approach in examining the settlement of Winneba, and the establishment of the institutional frameworks for nation building. Infused with supernatural capabilities of the early settlers, the book brings to life the personal as well as the collective stories of the pioneers. Internal and external written sources are examined in relation to the factors that precipitated the polarization and strife among the Effutu. Finally, the book deals with the socio-political structure, religion and their cosmic significance, and occupational and economic practices of the Effutu.
About the Author
Anthony Ephirim-Donkor is also Nana Obrafo Owam X, the Traditional Ruler of Gomo Mprumen, Ghana. He holds degrees from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Candler School of Theology and the Institute of the Liberal Arts of Emory University where he received his Ph.D. in Religion and Literature. Ephirim-Donkor is the author of African Spirituality: On Beroming Ancestors (AWP I997).
Excerpted from The Making of an African King : Patrilineal & Matrilineal Struggle Among the Effutu of Ghana by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
The Long Search Home - All courtship takes place at night outside the female household and the pramma even though the parties may eventually end up in the husband's room in the pramma. If married, however, the wife will visit and spend the night with her husband, but returns and bathe before members of the household wake up. The reason is that courting, copulation, and marital relations are private and must be conducted in secrecy (darkness), and away from the view of children. Moreover, copulation renders one unclean and therefore one must bathe before tending to daily activities. King Ghartey V tried to change this practice by urging women to wait until daybreak or morning before returning to their houses. He felt women need not be ashamed of visiting their husbands at night. Rather they should wait in the morning, take a bath, dress up, and return home. The king's call had limited success. In the first place, a woman wants to avoid the stigma of being seen returning from her husband's house in the morning with all the sexual overtones. Secondly, the facilities and atmosphere in any given pramma may not be conducive for a woman. For instance, there may be only one bathroom for an entire pramma of several men. And, finally, a woman may have her children or chores waiting for her at dawn or early in the morning, in which case she would have to get up early and return. And besides she may be ridiculed by other women in the household. On the other hand, if the husband needs his wife, then he approaches his wife's household and then send for her rather than go there himself. The reason is that the female household is where his mother-in-law lives, and he may want to keep his distance away from there. Most men respect the socio-economic and relio-political boundaries existing between female household and the Pramma, so much so that a couple, for instance, may be on opposite sides of the political aisle and still respect each other's position. However, the mutual respect and tolerance is rapidly being supplanted by a deep seated animosity between siblings, couples, and families that is marring socio-political relations. It was an accepted practice in the past, and even encouraged, for people to state passionately their differing views and assiduously defend their socio-religious and political roles during, say, the Aboakyir festival, then revert to their previous harmonious relations as though nothing had taken place earlier. The reason is that marriages take place across socio-political alignments. Bachelors may continue to live at the female household until such time as they are married. However, if they continue to live in the female house even after marriage, then pressure is exerted on them to move out and find their own living quarters. The reason is that a pramma may not be big enough to house all the male descendants of a patrilineage at any given time. So, while the unmarried or divorced males may not live in the pramma, they continue to frequent the female household or ni-yie (mother's house) for their meals until they marry or remarry. The ni-yie may not necessarily be the same as the Asae yie or the Female household. The pramma is a single, big house with many rooms for the descendants of an agnatic group. This central house may be surrounded by a cluster of houses built by the adult members as their number augments. Nowadays the affluent and educated members of a pramma tend to move out and build their own houses as extensions of the primary pramma. For instance, my father left his paternal pramma to build his house at a suburb of Winneba called Kojo Baidu. This house has become our (the children's) little pramma, although we always attend meetings at the primary pramma whenever there is a crisis or death in the extended family. With the passing of time, however, the pramma situated the farthest develops is own distinct entity, to the extent that during family crises only the elders return to the primary pramma to fulfill their religious and civic duties on behalf of the absentee members of a pramma. As the pramma is agnatically composed and organized, the eldest father or male is generally the head and presides over all religious and ritual observances, including the maintenance of the paternal deities. Nowadays it is not unusual to hear the head of a pramma being referred to as ebusua onyimpa (eldest of the ebusua), not because the Effutu are Akan, but because Akan designations have become prevalent in Effutu socio-political culture. I have heard the head of the Otuano Royal Family referred to as ebusua onyimpa, rather than Otuano Onyimpa (the eldest of Otuano). Every pramma has an onyimpa or eldest as its head in the same way the Akan have ebusua panyin. What is important to remember is that even though the Efftu use both Akan and Effutu terms interchangeably, the concepts may not necessarily have the same meaning for Effutu as for Akan. For example, while onyimpa in Akan means a person, in the Effutu it means an elder (onyimpaa).
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