The Role of the Chief-King Among the Akans: A Theological Reflection

Anthony Kofi AnomahORCID iD  & Peter Addai MensahORCID iD

Issue: Vol.1  No.4 August 2020  Article 2 pp. 110-117
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020082   |   Published online 31st August 2020.
© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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The study seeks to explore the role of chiefs-kings among the Akan in Ghana vis-à-vis the functions of the District/Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies and the relevance of the chieftaincy institution in contemporary society. A literary approach was adopted for the study making use of analysed secondary data. The study findings indicated that whereas the functions of the District/Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies are political and administrative, that of the chiefs-kings among the Akan in Ghana are executive, legislative, judicial, religious (spiritual) and agents of development. The functions of the Assemblies are therefore complementary, collaborative and co-operative to that of the chiefs-kings. Thus, the District/Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies and the chieftaincy institutions are not opposed to each other but collaborative in function. The article maintains that the chieftaincy institution is still relevant in contemporary society despite the abuses by some chiefs-kings and cannot be replaced by the District/Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies. The study recommends that the District/Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies and the chiefs-kings should recognise each other as partners and collaborators in their jurisdictions and not as competitors or opponents. The Assemblies should recognize that the chiefs-kings are the custodians of the land and intermediaries between the living and the ancestors and give them their due rights. As such, the chiefs-kings hold the keys to the peace and development of their kingdoms; and chiefs-kings should serve their subjects as role models and govern them with humility, justice and peace. The study contributes to the understanding of the chieftaincy institution among the Akan in Ghana.

Keywords: Chieftaincy institution, Chiefs-Kings, development, selection.

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Anthony Kofi Anomah is a Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), Province of Ghana. He is the Rector of the Spiritan University College, Ejisu Ashanti, Ghana. His research interests are Christianity and culture, inter-religious dialogue and inculturation

Peter Addai-Mensah(STD) is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Kumasi and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana. He has authored six books and co-authored six other books. He has eighteen articles to his credit. His areas of research are Theology and Spirituality.

Anomah, Anthony, K. & Addai-Mensah, Peter. “The Role of the Chief-King Among the Akans: A Theological Reflection.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 1, no.4 (2020): 110-117. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020082

© 2020 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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