the akan queen mothers in ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy fiona araba gibson

917 Pages·2010·4.87 MB·English

by  Fiona Gibson

THE AKAN QUEEN MOTHERS IN GHANA
AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF COVERT
GYNOCRACY

FIONA ARABA GIBSON

Thesis submitted to Cardiff School of Management in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy.

2010

Cardiff School of Management
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
Colchester Avenue
Cardiff, UK, CF23 9XR
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
DECLARATION

I declare that this work has not been previously accepted in substance
for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted for any other
degree.

I further declare that this thesis is the result of my own independent
work and investigation, except where otherwise stated (a bibliography is
appended).

Finally, I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available
for photography and inter-library loan, and for the title and abstract to
be made available to outside organisations.

Signed:
Fiona Araba Gibson (Candidate)

Signed:
Professor Annette Pritchard (Director of Studies)

Signed:
Professor Eleri Jones (Supervisor)

Page ii
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to God Almighty, through whom I had the
knowledge, strength and energy to persevere against all odds to achieve
my dream. I describe the inspiration on which I drew to write the thesis
on the position of Akan Queen Mothers, about whom very little is
known, as divine because I believed I was guided through this journey
by Supreme Being and very grateful to Him, Amen.

This thesis is also dedicated to two formidable women in my life, my
grandmother and mother whom through their relentless efforts used
every resource they had when they were alive to support me throughout
my education.

The study is also dedicated to my family for their endless patience,
support and encouragement, especially to my four children, Chris
Ephine Nana Yaw Twum, Fiona Akosua Benuye Ewurasi Twum, Ebo
John Twum and Ekow Lenard Twum for all the hard times they have
suffered during my research journey.

It is also dedicated to all friends who supported and helped me along
the way, especially David Jenkins, who showed an outstanding love,
dedication, patience and understanding during my research studies. I
must say he is very reliable friend and I use this opportunity to thank
him dearly by standing by me during the hard times.

Page iii
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude to my
supervisors for giving me the opportunity to pursue an attractive
research topic. I sincerely, thanked Professor David Botterill for his
immense research advice and encouragement, which guided me
throughout my research journey.

I am indebted to Professor Eleri Jones for her guidance, valuable
inputs, assistance and encouragement along the way. Professor Jones‟s
brilliant contributions and effective review of the work is highly
acknowledged. Finally, for drawing my attention to the contradictory
position of Akan Queen Mothers regarding their power and authority
and their background position in Akan social organisation of Ghana.

I am also indebted to Professor Annette Pritchard for her critically
positive and constructive criticisms in shaping this thesis to acceptable
level.

Thanks are extended to all formal and informal Ghanaian men and
women who agreed to participate in both unstructured individual and
focus or group interviews in Ghana on the position of Akan Queen
Mothers of Ghana. Thanks are also extended to all special friends who
freely offered help and the experiences they exposed are indeed
appreciated.

I also want to thank Katerina Ciura for editing my thesis as well as Mrs
Janet Simons for her immense support while writing this research
thesis.

Finally, I would like to thank all organisations and women groups
PANAFEST festival Foundation, the Ministry of Tourism and few more
organisations and individuals for providing every possible help. I use
this occasion to thank every body in Ghana News Agency, for the
immense support I received during the time of the field study in Ghana,
especially in shaping me into a fantastic narrative story teller.
Page iv
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
ABSTRACT

Akan society in Ghana is a covert gynocracy. The Akan Queen Mothers
assume a background position despite being co-political rulers of Akan
traditional political chieftaincy institutions with sole authority and
power for electing a man to be enstooled as king or chief. This
background position results directly from traditional cultural and social
norms - “cultural politics” - that have existed in Ghana from pre-
colonial times to the modern-day and reflect how wider Ghanaian
society perceives women.

Festivals are extremely important in Ghana with women playing a
central role in festival celebrations. One such festival of national and
international importance is PANAFEST which celebrates the ideals of
Pan-Africanism. PANAFEST is dominated by men with women, apart
from the Queen Mothers, playing a secondary role in the celebrations,
only one day focuses on women's activities.

This study investigates the implications of covert gynocracy for women‟s
empowerment in Ghana through a case study of women in tourism,
particularly PANAFEST, and the role of the Akan Queen Mothers
therein. Promoting social harmony rather than gender equality, this
post-modern feminist study interprets rich qualitative data generated
from unstructured interviews with better-educated individuals and
focus group discussions with less well-educated individuals at three
PANAFEST destinations.

The thesis discusses the structures that underpin Akan society and the
power and authority of the Akan Queen Mothers as decision-makers,
particularly in respect of kingship. It exposes the contradiction of the
Queen Mothers‟ power and authority with their background position as
covert gynocracy and the implications of this for women‟s
empowerment. The thesis presents the Theory of the Giant Leap to
encapsulate the enormous challenges for women‟s empowerment in
Ghana through addressing covert gynocracy and male hegemony. The
thesis concludes that there is no short-term panacea and that issues
can only be addressed in the long-term through education.
Page v
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH
JOURNEY

1.1 Introduction 1-2
1.2 My Personal Journey 1-6
1.2.1 My Childhood and Strong Maternal Influences 1-8
1.2.2 My Grandmother - the Queen Mother of my life 1-10
1.2.3 My Mother 1-11
1.2.4 Life as a Boarding Student 1-11
1.2.5 Life as a Married Woman 1-13
1.3 The PANAFEST Festival and Tourism Development in
Ghana 1-14
1.4 Community and Village-Based Tourism in Ghana 1-15
1.5 UNWTO, Tourism and Poverty Alleviation 1-17
1.5.1 Sustainable Tourism Development and Poverty 1-20
Alleviation in Ghana
1.5.2 Pro-Poor Tourism Potential in Ghana 1-22
1.6 Selecting a Thesis Topic 1-23
1.6.1 Research Problem 1-24
1.6.2 Research Study Aims and Objectives 1-26
1.7 Overview of Thesis 1-28

CHAPTER TWO: POST-MODERN FEMINISM: THE ROAD
TO SOCIAL HARMONY IN AKAN SOCIETY?

2.1 Introduction 2-2
2.2 World Views on Feminism 2-3
2.2.1 Liberal feminism 2-5
2.2.2 Marxist feminism 2-6
2.2.3 Radical feminism 2-7
2.2.4 Post-modern feminism 2-8
2.3 Towards Social Harmony 2-10
2.4 The Long Road to Gender Equality 2-14
2.4.1 Gendering 2-14
2.4.2 The glass ceiling 2-15
2.4.3 Under-representation of women in leadership
positions 2-16
2.4.4 Women in the media 2-18
2.5 United Nations’ Advancement on Women 2-21
2.5.1 UN critical areas of concerns on gender issues 2-23
2.5.2 UN‟s concerns on media reports of women 2-28
2.6 Summary 2-29

Page vi
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
CHAPTER THREE: GHANA IN BRIEF

3.1 Introduction 3-2
3.2 The Ancient Ghana Empire 3-2
3.3 Pre-colonial Ghana 3-5
3.3.1 European Trade Activities in Pre-colonial Ghana 3-6
3.3.2 Influence of European Trade on Pre-colonial 3-8
Ghana
3.4 The Colonial Period 3-11
3.5 Ghana Today 3-18
3.5.1 Geography and Climatic Conditions in Ghana 3-18
3.5.2 The Volta River 3-20
3.5.3 Ghana‟s Rich Mineral Sources 3-21
3.5.4 Major Ethnic Groups, Languages and Religions
in Ghana 3-22
3.5.5 Ghana‟s Educational System 3-23
3.5.6 Regional and District Administration in Ghana 3-25
3.6 Colonial Legacies in Ghana 3-26
3.6.1 The Symbolism of the Flag of Ghana 3-27
3.6.2 The Coat of Arm‟s of Ghana as Colonial Legacy 3-29
3.7 Tourism in Ghana 3-30
3.7.1 Ghana‟s Tourism Development Plan 3-32
3.7.2 Tourism Projections in Ghana 3-34
3.7.3 Tourism Incentives in Ghana 3-35
3.7.4 Tourism Implementation in Ghana 3-36
3.8 Women in Ghana 3-38
3.8.1 Perceptions of Women in Ghana 3-38
3.8.2 Women‟s Suffrage in Ghana 3-39
3.8.3 Colonial Influences - Formal Position of Women
in Ghana 3-39
3.8.4 Current Position of Women in Ghana 3-42
3.8.5 Cultural Politics and Female Genital Mutilation 3-43
3.9 Women’s Organisations and Groups in Ghana 3-47
3.10 Ghana’s Situation - Affirmative Action 3-51
3.11 Women and the Media in Ghana 3-52
3.12 Summary 3-58

Page vii
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
CHAPTER FOUR: THEORETICAL APPROACH

4.1 Introduction 4-2
4.2 Research design 4-3
4.2.1 Epistemology and ontology 4-4
4.2.2 Theoretical perspective 4-8
4.2.3 Methodology 48
4.2.4 Methods 4-10
4.3 Post-modern feminism 4-10
4.3.1 Multiple perspectives and interpretations 4-11
4.3.2 „No one truth‟ 4-12
4.4 Constructing an interpretation of the discourses
underpinning the power dynamics of gender in Akan
society 4-13
4.5 Critical inquiry – challenging conventional
interpretations 4-15
4.6 Research design considerations 4-16
4.6.1 A qualitative approach 4-16
4.6.2 A naturalistic, situated approach 4-17
4.6.3 Ethical issues - vulnerability of participants 4-22
4.7 Summary 4-23

CHAPTER FIVE: PRACTICAL APPROACH

5.1 Introduction 5-2
5.2 Developing a case study of the Akan Queen
Mothers 5-2
5.3 Data collection 5-8
5.3.1 Secondary data collection 5-8
5.3.2 Primary data collection 5-8
5.3.3 Documents 5-9
5.3.4 Archival records 5-9
5.3.5 Open-ended interviews 5-10
5.3.6 Focus group interviews 5-11
5.3.7 Purposive sampling strategy 5-12
5.3.9 Snowball sampling strategy 5-15
5.3.8 Accessing natural settings in
PANAFEST festival celebrations 5-16
5.4 Data collection in PANAFEST destinations in
Ghana 5-17
5.5 Data analysis 5-22
5.6 Validity and reliability 5-30
5.7 Ethical considerations 5-32
5.8 Summary 5-34

Page viii
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
CHAPTER SIX: THE AKAN QUEEN MOTHERS IN GHANA

6.1 Introduction 6-2
6.2 Akan Society in Ghana 6-3
6.2.1 Origins of Akan Society 6-3
6.2.2 Akan Lineage 6-4
6.2.3 Akan Social Structures 6-7
6.2.4 Intestate Succession Laws in Matrilineal 6-9
Society
6.2.5 Matrilineages and Patrilineages in Akan 6-10
Society
6.3 The Akan Stools 6-12
6.4 The Queen Mothers and the Akan Traditional 6-13
Political System
6.5 Covert Influence of the Akan Queen Mothers 6-21
6.5.1 Queen Mothers as the Akan Chief Decision- 6-26
Makers
6.5.2 Queen Mothers as Information Database for 6-29
Akan Social Heritage
6.6 Contradiction of Power and Authority of Akan 6-30
Queen Mothers
6.7 Women of African Descent With Conferred Queen 6-36
Mother Status
6.8 Summary 6-40

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CASE OF PANAFEST AND THE
AKAN QUEEN MOTHERS

7.1 Introduction 7-2
7.2 The History of the Slave Trade 7-3
7.2.1 The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade 7-7
7.2.2 Castles used as Slave Dungeons in Ghana 7-11
7.2.3 The Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade 7-16
and its Effects
7.3 PANAFEST 7-18
7.3.1 Efua Sutherland, Catalyst For PANAFEST 7-22
7.3.2 PANAFEST and the Historical Slave Routes in 7-24
Ghana
7.3.3 Organisational Structure of PANAFEST 7-29
7.3.4 PANAFEST and the Role of Akan Queen Mothers 7-31
7.3.5 PANAFEST Seating Arrangements 7-33
7.3.6 Akan Queen Mothers used as Embellishment of 7-38
festivals
7.4 Akan Women and Festival Celebrations 7-41
7.5 Summary 7-44
Page ix
The Akan Queen Mothers in Ghana and the implications of covert gynocracy
CHAPTER EIGHT: BEYOND PANAFEST – WIDER
CONTRADICTIONS ABOUT WOMEN IN GHANA

8.1 Introduction 8-2
8.2 Women and Society - Traditional and Cultural 8-4
Politics in Ghanaian Society
8.3 Formal Influences – Colonial Powers and Male 8-8
Hegemony in Ghana
8.4 Women and Gender Issues in Ghana 8-15
8.4.1 Women and Politics in Ghana 8-18
8.4.2 Education and Financial Empowerment of 8-21
Women in Ghana
8.5 Gender, Culture and Tourism Development in Ghana 8-26
8.5.1 Tourism Development in Ghana 8-27
8.5.2 Tourism Promotion and Investment 8-28
8.5.3 Women and the Tourism Workforce 8-29
8.5.4 Sex Tourism in Ghana 8-33
8.6 Summary 8-37

CHAPTER NINE: THE THEORY OF THE GIANT LEAP

9.1 Introduction 9-2
9.2 Ghana Colonial Legacy and the Implications for Women
9-3
9.3 Akan Queen Mothers and Their Covert Gynocratic
Influence 9-6
9.4 PANAFEST – Covert Gynocracy and the Paradox of the
Akan Queen Mothers 9-10
9.5 Other Contradictions in Ghanaian Society 9-12
9.6 Beyond Covert Gynocracy and Male Hegemony 9-18
9.7 Post-Modern Feminism – A Vision of Social Harmony
9-19
9.8 The Theory of the Giant Leap 9-20
9.9 Observational Position of Interviewees 9-24
9.10 The Significance of Empowerment 9-26
9.11 Recommendations 9-27
9.12 Summary 9-33

Page x