International African Institute

The Asantehene-in-Council: Ashanti Politics under Colonial Rule, 1935-1950

Author(s): Alessandro Triulzi
Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr., 1972),
pp. 98-111
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1158979
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 [98]

THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL: ASHANTI POLITICS

UNDER COLONIAL RULE, 1935-1950
ALESSANDRO TRIULZI

TN this paper I shall attempt to show how, in the fifteen years

restoration of local authority in I935, the structure of the reco
government was modified, in certain significant directions, within
indirect (British) over-rule.
Previous commentators (Busia, 1951 ; Tordoff, 1965) have describ
the circumstances of the restoration, and have offered accounts of the
of the Ashanti Confederacy Council and of that body's impact u
I shall, therefore, be concerned here principally with the role of
within the new decision-making body, and specifically with the
growing powers affected in time the Council's character and mod
exploration of these topics I shall draw principally upon the archi
Confederacy (Asanteman) Council in Kumasi, and upon a series of
able to conduct in 1969 with former commoner members of that

THE ' RESTORATION '

On 31 January 1935, at a durbar held in Prince of Wales Park, Kumasi, the

Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Arnold Hodson, officially announced the restoration
of the Ashanti Confederacy Council and formally designated Prempeh II 'as the
first Asantehene under the British Government '. Hodson stated further:

Henceforth, the ancient loyalties of the Ashanti Divisions are to be officially recognised
and sanctioned.... In this restoration I must point out there is no new creation but a return
to former institutions .... The domestic affairs and property rights of properly consti-
tuted divisions will not be interfered with unless the native authorities concerned invite
assistance . .2

The compromise nature of the restoration within a framework of indirect rule

evident: Prempeh II was 'the first Asantehene under the British Government'
the 'ancient loyalties ' were to be ' recognised and sanctioned '; the restora
implied ' a return to former institutions ', yet the internal affairs of the divisions w
not going to be' interfered with '. The imperatives of indirect rule fitted all too
the eagerness of the individual states to maintain the autonomy enjoyed in
acephalous Ashanti of the early twentieth century.
Moreover, the complex administrative structure which had tied together
Ashanti polity in the nineteenth century had been destroyed by the British and
I I am grateful to the U.S. Department of Health, western University. I am also grateful to Dr. K
Education and Welfare, through the Program of Daaku for his encouragement in this work, a
African Studies, Northwestern University, and the Ivor Wilks and Phyllis Ferguson for their com
Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, on the manuscript.
which made this research possible. Copies of the 2 Gold Coast Gazette Extraordinary, 31 Jan.
field notes are on deposit in the library of the Insti- No. 0o.
tute of African Studies and in the library of North-

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL 99
not allowed to recreate itself: only the Amantoo states (i.e. the ori
doms that clustered around the capital) and the Brong divisions
renew their former allegiance to the Golden Stool. In the words
decided to set up a confederacy consisting of the " true " Ashan
existed before 1874 ? . .3 Consequently, in the newly established
cil, only the Asantehene, the headchiefs (Amanhene) of fifteen A
seven Kumasi 'clan' chiefs (Nsafohene) were given a seat.4
It will be clear from this that the ' return to former institutio
Hodson was but a legal fiction: the Ashanti of 193 5 resembled, if
mentary political system which loosely tied the original Amantoo
senior but equal member, Kumasi, rather than the Greater Ashan
teenth and nineteenth century which also included 'protect
non-Akan territories (Arhin, I967; Wilks, I967). Decentra
Rattray's model (1929), was at the base of the I935 restoratio
'non-interference' was reflected by the British-imposed title of
spite of Wallace-Johnson's warning that 'there has never been a
Ashanti and that the term Confederacy now applied is wrong '.5
From the Ashanti standpoint, restoration was seen in quite a dif
the very beginning the point was made in the Council that the re
be ' complete' until the Asantehene's ' ancient rights and privile
to their fullness and Ashanti was allowed to return to 'its pristin
The resumption of the Asantehene's right to arbitrate in cons
was a first step in this direction. The matter, brought about in c
high frequency of destoolments in Ashanti in the early 193 's, wa
Kokofuhene in I935, when he asked the Council to ' advise Gove
the Asantehene with his constitutional right of interferring [s
affairs '. In the general debate that ensued, the constitutionality o
principle was agreed upon by all councillors and was summarize
hene in these words:

They [the councillors] were not in agreement with the provision made by Government
to the effect that the Asantehene should not interfere or have voice in the Stool affairs of the
various Divisions .... The Asantehene was the overlord of all the Stools in Ashanti and as
such it was unconstitutional for him to be told not to have a voice in matters affecting Stools.7

A resolution to this effect was then passed empowering the Asantehene to act
as 'Supreme arbiter of all matters relating to enstoolments and destoolments of
Chiefs within the Confederacy '.8 The British thought differently, however, and the
3 National Archives of Ghana, Kumasi (hence- Ashanti Court Records, Wallace-Johnson, 1935,
orth NAG/K), Digest, pp. 1-3. IAS/49, p. 8.
4 The Ashanti divisions admitted to the Council 6 Ashanti Confederacy Council, Fir
in 1935 were: Kumasi, Mampong, Juaben, Bekwai, x935, Minutes, pp. 27, 32. Only the Min
Essumegya, Kokofu, Nsuta, Adanse, Kumawu Ist, 2nd, 8th, 3th, and of the Emergenc
Offinso, Ejisu, Agona, Banda, Mo, and Wenkyi. Feb. I948 have been printed. All the o
The Kumasi division was given, however, seven have been examined in the original at t
seats for its' clan ' chiefs Krontihene, Akwamuhene Archives in Kumasi (henceforth AA/
Adontenhene, Oyokohene, Gyasehene, Kyidom- will be made hereafter to Minutes.
hene, and Ankobiahene. See Ashanti Confederacy 7 Minutes, I935, p. 24.
Council (ACC) Order 1/1935. 8 Ibid., App. E, p. 39.
s Institute of African Studies, Legon (LAS),

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I00 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

Government declared itself ' unable to accept this resolution ' and pledg
Asantehene will not attempt to arbitrate in any stool dispute unless he
to do so by both parties concerned '.9
The matter was raised several times in the following Council meetin
1942 the councillors reiterated their previous position and again ruled th
all constitutional disputes . . . should be heard and tried by the Confede
under the presidency of the Asantehene '.I This time the colonial gover
drew from its previous opposition and the principle of non-interferen
stitutional matters was set aside in i943.12
A second step toward a more complete restoration of the royal prerog
Golden Stool was the return of the Kumasi lands to the Asantehene. The fact that
the Kumasi lands were retained as government property, in spite of the restoration,
was a matter of grave concern for both the Asantehene and his chiefs. The matter
was brought up in the Council during its second Session in 1936, and the councillors'
arguments were summarized by the Asantehene in his closing speech:
The Chiefs have appealed to Government through Your Honour to restore my land to
me. They do not mean that the land should be restored to me so that I may make money
out of it, but the land belong [sic] to all Ashanti .... Other towns laugh at me when they
hear that the Kumasi land has been taken away by the Government.... If Government has
restored me to my natural privileges, it might equally restore my land to me.13

The colonial authorities, once again, made clear that their own concept of' restora-
tion ' was quite different from that of the Ashanti. Alleging that ' Kumasi differed
from other towns' since it was 'the centre of administration', the Chief Com-
missioner, in his reply to the Asantehene, stated that it' was therefore necessary tha
Government should have control over Kumasi land '.14 The matter, however, was
brought up in the Council a number of times, and in I938 the Mamponghene com-
plained that 'we have appealed to the Government, each time we meet in Council,
to restore the Kumasi town land to the Golden Stool in order to complete the restora
tion of the Confederacy '.'5
Faced with British inaction, further pressure was exercised in the following years,
and both the Ashanti Pioneer'6 and the Kumasi Divisional CouncilI7 were involved in
a campaign aimed at the release of the Kumasi lands to the Asantehene. Under this
combined pressure the colonial authorities were again forced to act and in 1941 the
Gold Coast government formally announced, as an ' act of grace ', the restoration of
the Kumasi lands to 'the Asantehene as occupant of the Golden Stool .18
9 NAG/K, Digest, p. 7. tioning without its usual natural appendage-the
10 See, for instance, Minutes, 194I, pp. 35-7. Kumasi Lands-which makes the position v
" Minutes, I942, p. 51. ridiculous. How can the Golden Stool properly
12 NAG/K, Digest, p. 8; Busia, I95i, p. 175. adjudicate upon Land cases when its own L
13 Minutes, I936, pp. 22-3. have been taken away from it? ' Ibid., 3 July I941.
i4 Ibid., p. 23. I7 In I940, for instance, the seven ' clan ' chiefs
I5 NAG/K, Digest, p. 20. of the Kumasi Divisional Council decided to hand
i6 In a series of editorials entitled ' The spiritual back to the government their lands in a
significance of Lands in Ashanti', the Pioneer wrote to put public pressure in favour of a g
that ' Restoration of the Confederacy without her restoration. See The Ashanti Pioneer, I4
land seems a camouflage' (The Ashanti Pioneer, 18 Ibid. 2 Oct. 1941. Almost two yea
7-9 March I940), and in a later editorial commented: however, before the necessary legislation
'The renowned Golden Stool of Ashanti is func- See the Kumasi Stool Lands Ordinance,

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL IOI

While the Asantehene's traditional rights were

itself was given more powers and the area of its
the Council had been denied both legislative powe
In I936 the Ashanti Confederacy Council Order w
with legislative powers,I9 while the Native Cour
had established native courts in Ashanti of whic
Council-named the Asantehene's Court 'A'-w
disputes within the Confederacy.20 Finally, in 1
to declare or modify 'native law and custom wh
the good government and welfare of the Confed
By the early I940S the restoration process had b
British had not envisaged a few years earlier. W
was the prime mover behind the Council's end
authority, it seems clear that the Asantehene ben
powers to an extent which was possibly greater t
In a few years the Asantehene had been empowe
and constitutional disputes, while the return to
his prestige in the eyes of the nation and allowed hi
How these new powers were going to affect the
shown in the next decade.

THE GROWTH IN THE ASANTEHENE'S POWERS

Within the Council, the Asantehene's new role was recognized by the councillors,
who readily acknowledged the shift in political leadership to be a natural consequence
of the restoration process. The Asantehene's appointive rights, for instance, a dis-
tinctive mark of nineteenth-century Ashanti kings,23 were asserted on many occasions,
their legality never being publicly questioned. Members of the Council's committees
were always appointed by the Asantehene, as were the extraordinary members, or
educated commoners, who were often co-opted into the Council after they had been
' introduced ' to it by its President.24 The Asantehene's ancient prerogative of creating
new chiefs and nominating them to the Council was similarly exercised on different
occasions.25
That the colonial authorities were not so eager to recognize the Asantehene's
19 See ACC Amendment Order, 2/1936, ss. 8, I5. 24 Such, for instance, was the procedure followed
20 Native Courts (Ashanti) Ordinance, 2/1935;in 1950 for the co-option into the Council of Cob-
Asantehene's Court Order, 4/1935. bina Kessie. Field Notes, Interview with C. Kessie,
21 Native Law and Custom (Ashanti Confederacy)12 Aug. I969, p. 29.
Ordinance, 1940, ss. 3, 4. 25 In 1941, for example, the Asantehene 'in-
22 After receiving the Kumasi land from theformed ' the Council that he had created a new stool
government, for example, the Asantehene informedin the person of the Manwerehene and had promoted
the Council that' as in the olden days the Divisionalhim 'to the status of a Palanquin Chief... to be
Chiefs each had a danpan [o-dampan: ' a house or room
recognised as a member of the Confederacy Council
with an open front', Christaller, 1881, p. 62] inas any of the Kumasi Senior Clan Chiefs' (Minutes,
Kumasi, a like privilege would be extended to them1941, 4th Session; Busia, 195I, p. 184). A similar
...' NAG/K, Digest, p. 20. procedure was followed in I943 when the Denyase-
23 See, for example, Robertson, I8I9, p. I99;hene and the Sumahene were formally made members
Dupuis, 1824, pp. 94-5, 97; see also Interview withof the Council even though there had been no pre-
I. B. Asafu-Adjaye, Kumasi, 9 Aug. 1969, Fieldvious recognition of them by the Government.
Notes, p. 18. Minutes, 1943, 6th Session; Busia, I951, pp. 175, i85.
I

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102 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

inherent right of appointment could be seen by a note which the Counci

Chief Commissioner in 1946 'reminding Government that Kuntanas
Asokore, Beposo, Nkwanta and Suma had not been recognised [by G
as [Council] members '.26 The anomalous position of these chiefs within
is indeed interesting. Their names do not appear in the First Schedule
Chiefs) of the original Order, nor were they included in the successive
to the Schedule in May 1935, April 1936, or October I938.27 Yet all of th
different stages co-opted to the Council, often informally, at times-as in
the Denyasehene and Sumahene28-by formal nomination.
These 'unofficial members ' were present at most Council meetings, w
to participate in its debates, voted on its resolutions, and at times were
serve on special Committees as full members of the Council.29 In other
the reorganization of the Council in I947, which legalized the status of so
'unofficial members ', the Council membership was determined more by
tions of expediency than by rigid adherence to governmental order.
The principle of free co-option on the part of the Asantehene, asserted
in the first decade of the Council's activities, was further sanctioned in
an Emergency Session of the Council attempted to institutionalize it. On
in fact, the Juabenhene moved, and the Council approved, that the As
empowered
to nominate any person of Ashanti birth whom Otumfuo thought could cont
better administration to be a member of the Council ...30

This time the colonial authorities reacted sharply and the Chief Commissioner, in
a letter addressed to the Asantehene, replied:
I regret that I would not be able to support in their present form the resolution of the
Confederacy Council that (a) your inherent right to appoint any Chief of the status of
Obrempon to be a member of the Council should be recognized, and (b) that you should
also be authorized to nominate any (unspecified number) of persons of Ashanti birth to
be members of the Council.3I

Following the reorganization of the Council in 1947, only the divisions of Suma,
Nkwanta, Asokore, and Denyase were added to the First Schedule. This did not deter
those divisions whose representatives had been barred from a formal association with

26 The Ashanti Pioneer, 23 Oct. 1946. sentatives of the Denyase and Kuntanase divisions
27 See Amendments 17/I935, 36/1936, and 78/I938 were appointed as members of the special Committee
respectively. charged to consider the question of funeral customs
28 See above, p. IoI n. 25. in Ashanti (ibid., p. 37). The same divisions, plus
29 The Denyasehene, Tafohene, and Kuntanase- Suma, Beposo, and Asokore, were present at the
hene, for example, were active members of the First Second Session of the Council where they fully
Session of the Council, participating in its debates participated in its works and cast their votes on
and voting its resolutions, in spite of their ambiguous several resolutions (Minutes, 1936, pp. 8, 35-6,
legal position (Minutes, 1935, pp. 10-I5). The Tafo- 43-4). As late as 1946, still without Government
hene, who was to be included formally in the Coun- ratification for all but the Tafohene, the same divi-
cil only in 1938, had been appointed three years sions, plus Nkwanta, sent representatives to the
previously as one of the two speakers of the Benkum annual meeting, where they similarly participated as
clan within the Council (ibid., p. 9); he and the full members of the Council. Ibid., 1946, pp. 6-7.
Denyasehene were among the signatories of the 30 The Ashanti Pioneer, 24 Oct. 1946.
resolution empowering the Asantehene to adjudicate 31 NAG/K, File No. 1097, Chief Commissioner
on constitutional matters (ibid., p. 25), while repre- to Asantehene, Kumasi, 22 Feb. 1947.

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL 103
the Council-like Beposo or Kuntanase-from continuing to parti
yet full members, as the Minutes of the subsequent Council meeting
Still within the realm of the Asantehene's appointive powers w
of both Land and Constitutional courts over which he often pr
members he appointed. In constitutional cases, for instance,
the dispute was referred to the committee of the Asanteman Council.
sit on it and also appoint other panel members and therefore could e
over the committee. This became evident and everybody later on saw
through his courts, known as Constitutional and Land Courts. An
control over them.33

How much this 'control' was considered politically important is shown by the
fact that in 1946, when the Havers Commission proposed to shift appellate jurisdic-
tion in land cases from the Asantehene's to the Chief Commissioner's Court, the
Standing Committee of the Council rejected the proposal on the ground that the
Asantehene's Court was

the one most conversant with Native Customary Law. If its powers were taken away it
might serve to lessen the allegiance owed to the Occupant of the Golden Stool and tend to
loosen the common bond that binds the Confederacy together.34

In time, however, the Asantehene courts came under increasing criticism and,
instead of strengthening the' common bond ' between the divisions, their centralized
control alienated those Confederacy members who were most jealous of their own
traditional autonomy. Thus the Brong chiefs, testifying in front of a special Com-
mittee appointed by the Government, charged in the early 195os that
the composition and practices of the Ashanti Confederacy Court . . . [are] too centralized
and too closely connected with the administration and executive departments of the Asante-
man Council.3s

THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

A reciprocal relationship gradually developed between the Confederacy Council

and the Asantehene as the prerogatives of the Council became increasingly identified
with those of its President. This process was encouraged, perhaps unknowingly, by
the Council itself. When, in 1936, the Takyimanhene took legal action against the
Asantehene over a dispute concerning certain villages which had been assigned to
the Kumasi division, the Council reacted by informing the Chief Commissioner that
it is unconstitutional for any Ashanti person be he a Chief or otherwise to institute an action
against the occupant of the Golden Stool and if he does then it means that it is the ' Asante-
man' against whom he has taken the action.36

Similarly, the Council's orders were seen as the Asantehene's orders. Opening the
eighth Session of the Confederacy Council the Asantehene remarked:
32 See, for instance, Minutes, 1948, I3th Session, 34 Minutes, 1946, p. 45.
pp. 4-5; ibid., Emergency Session, February I950, 35 Gold Coast, Report, I955, p. 5.
pp. 3-4. 36 Minutes, 1936, App. F, p. 37. On the dispute
33 Interview with K. A. T. Amankwa, 12 Aug. between the Asantem
I969, Field Notes, p. 5 . I965, pp. 355 -6.

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Io4 TI-E ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

Reports have reached me, in spite of my constant admonitions during our

there are still some of you who do not enforce the decisions taken by the Co
sessions. It is alleged that some of you shrug your shoulders at the breaking of
orders and tell your people that they are Asantehene's orders and none of your

In spite of the Asantehene's ' constant admonitions ' it would seem th

sonification of the Council orders continued unaltered, since in 1949 he
again to warn against this 'very cynical and pernicious' frame of m
imputed
decisions and orders made by this Council to me only as if I and not all of us bear the
responsibility of the actions of this Council.38

Yet, the very tie which bound the chiefs together and to the Council was the Ntam
Kesie, or Great Oath, which every chief had to swear to the Asantehene, before being
officially enstooled, as a personal pledge of allegiance to the Golden Stool. Both the
recognition of enstoolment by the Government and the membership in the Council
were conditional on the swearing of the Oath, and on the customary act of submission
to the Asantehene, symbolized by the placing of his right foot on the head of the
newly elected chief.39
Thus a violation of the Council's orders was considered ' tantamount to violation
of the Oath of allegiance '.40 In the absence of other coercive powers, the sanction
which the Council invoked against deviant members corresponded to that adminis-
tered in case of a breach of the Great Oath, that is, it was reduced to a personal
offence against the Asantehene. The identification of the Council's orders with the
Asantehene's, vainly rejected by the occupant of the Golden Stool, because it
diminished the prestige of the Council, was thus indirectly reinforced by the very
system of sanctions which was aimed at protecting the Council authority.
It was probably a similar confusion between traditional and modern roles that
was responsible for another apparent failure of the Council, that of providing an
adequate forum where free and open discussion could take place, and important
decisions be freely made. As a rule, the Asantehene opened and closed the debate on
each issue.4I Both the councillors and the extraordinary members who participated
in the meetings had to ask for the floor in order to speak,42 and in simply choosing
the next speaker the Asantehene could exercise some measure of control over the
debate.43 Although most informants agreed that 'anyone could say anything at all
he liked in the Asanteman Council ',44 still it appears that often this freedom was little
used and was restricted by 'fears to say candidly things which could incur the dis-
pleasure of the Asantehene '.45
37 Miniutes, I946, App. A, p. 85. For historical pre- 42 See ' The Standing Rules and Orders of the
cedents of the Council's orders as 'the sudden and Ashanti Confederacy Council', Alintes, 1948, App.
arbitrary pleasure of the King ', see Bowdich, I819, VIII, pp. 46-7.
p. 253. 43 Field Notes, K. A. T. Amankwa, p. 46.
38 Alinutes, I949, I4th Session, pp. 85-6. 44 Ibid., C. K
39 The form of the Oath of allegiance raised several 45 Interview
criticisms and was eventually altered in the early Field Notes, p.
1950S. See AA/K, Statement of Grievances, 195I, par. 3; p. 27, a
Gold Coast, Report, pp. 4-5; see also Field Notes, p. 68. Busia, in
C. Kessie, p. 37. in the middle I940S, reported the same reluctance
40 Minutes, 1946, p. 37. to speak on the part of the Chiefs (Busia, 195T,
41 Busia, 1951, p. I83. p. I84).

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL I05
No one better than the Asantehene was aware of these fears, and
Council's meetings contain repeated admonitions by the Pres
Yet things changed little and, in spite of some formal improv
Asantehene was still prompted to denounce
a very regrettable state of affairs for I have always advised you w
Council's meetings to express your minds freely on any matters th

Ashanti constitutional practice may have been partly respons

the majority usually carried the vote in the Council, by ancie
hene summed up the opposing views at the end of each debate
cil know what his decision was. The fact that he normally abi
the views expressed seemed not to matter: ' to the uninitiated
laying down the law.'48 In the words of Cobbina Kessie, an ext
the Council:

It may be against your convictions but that would be the end of it. The Asantehene's
decision would be the last decision and that was why he was nicknamed ' Kasapreko '; he
speaks once and that's the end of it. ... He just listened to every point of view and, when
every one had spoken, the linguist will rise and address him. ' Nana, this is what your people
say. What is your decision ?' At times he would order a break and retire to his office and call
some of the important chiefs and some educated commoners for further discussion. When
the majority of them agreed on the decision, after the Council had resumed, the Asantehene
would let the final decision be known through his linguist.49

Although most informants rejected the alleged commoners' criticism of the Coun-
cil as a ' one-man show', as reported by Busia,50 the feeling clearly existed, and the
chiefs, on the whole, would not question the Asantehene's ultimate right to make
decisions in the interest of the nation, since

There were certain secrets that were known only by the Asantehene and the Executive Com-
mittee, or perhaps a handful of chiefs, while the others may not know them. If, therefore,
some decision was challenged he may not be able to say it in public because it would not be
to the interest of the nation.5

Strictly tied to the issue of ' free speech' was the one concerning the limits of a
chief's behaviour in Council. In I949 the Asantehene assured the councillors that
there was 'no restraint whatsoever on any member from expressing his feelings. No
one commits a punishable offence in the Council because he happens to hold a
contrary opinion from the rest of the members. '52 Yet, when the Dormaa division
seceded from the Confederacy in I95I, its Statement of Grievances charged, among
other things, that
46 See, for instance, the Asantehene's closing 48 Ibid., I. B. Asafu-Adjaye, p. 22.
speech to the Seventh Session of the Council, 49 Ibid., C. Kessie, pp. 32, 34. See also, Interview
Minutes, I945, p. 56. with Nana K. A. Dankwah, Edubiasi, 29 July 1969,
47 Minutes, 1946, p. 85. It should be pointed out Field Notes, p. io. Basically the same pr
here that not all members showed an equal degree of reported by Mensah Sarbah when he desc
hesitancy in presenting their views to the Council. Akan Council in court, Sarbah, 1906, p. 3
According to K. A. T. Amankwa, the Ejisuhene and 50 Busia, 195I, p. I88.
the Offinsohene were quite outspoken, for instance, 5s Field Notes, C. Kessie, pp. 35-6.
and so were people like C. Kessie or C. E. Osei. 52 Minutes, 1949, pp. 35-6.
See Field Notes, pp. 46-7.

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 io6 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

In the Confederacy Council any statement which is n

makes the speaker liable to slaughter sheep or to ap

In 1941, for example, the Adontenhene was m

effect that ' even in England if one says to the K
not a crime ',54 and later he was fined for an equ
at the Confederacy Council. Again, while discus
Levy in 1945, and its disbursements to the indiv
avowed that he had' refrained from making this en
offence . . . .56
In this sense Mensah Sarbah's appraisal of th
freedom of speech and the publicity thereof give
public opinion '57 reflected an idealized model of a t
than the political reality of the Confederacy Cou

FROM CONFEDERACY TO ASANTEMAN

During its first ten years of existence, the Confed

changes. Both in terms of internal structure and
powers had increased, its jurisdiction had been en
Confederacy had grown. The next step of the Cou
by removing the British-imposed label of 'co
much of its original substance.
At an Emergency Session held in June 1946, th
that inasmuch as the term 'Ashanti National Council
keeping with the traditional facts existing in Ashanti p
Government, the Government may be respectfully
Confederacy Council' and to substitute the words 'A

The colonial authorities did not favour such a c

asked the Council to 'defer consideration' of the matter.59 The issue was then
dropped, formally if not substantially. As before, the Council was called, in officia
documents and at the colonial authorities' level, the ' Ashanti Confederacy Council ',
while the term' Asanteman ' was used, as it had been from the very beginning, by
the Ashanti themselves.60
The matter was raised again in I 95 when the Council resolved a second time' that
the Ashanti Confederacy Council should be known as the Ashanti National Council .61

53 AA/K, Statement of Grievances, 195 I, par. 24. divisions and i was paid to a National Fund for the
54 Minutes, I941, pp. 38-40. One is reminded of award of fellowships and the maintenance of the
John Beecham's warning: ' To speak disrespectfully Council's administration. NAG/K, Digest, pp. 8-9.
of the King [i.e. Asantehene] is a treasonable offence, 56 Minutes, 1945, 7th Session, p. 3.
which, from the facilities possessed from obtaining 57 Sarbah, 1906, p. i I.
information, seldom escapes detection; and, when 58 NAG/K, File I097, encl. in Asantehene to Chief
discovered, is ever visited with severe punishment ' Commissioner, Kumasi, 20 June I946.
(Beecham, 1841, p. 95). 59 Ibid., Ag. Chief Commissioner to Asantehene,
55 The National Levy, voted by the Council in 22 Aug. 1946.
1942 and imposed throughout Ashanti, consisted 60 For early examples of the use of th
in an annual levy of 2/- on each man and I/- on each man, see Minutes, I935, pp. 19, 29.
woman. Of this, - were retained by the individual 6I Ibid., Emergency Session, June

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL I07
The validity of the new name was this time openly questioned b
sioner, who suggested that the title 'National' had 'a foreign f
often used for institutions such as schools and colleges .62 Th
standably, failed to impress the Council, which rejected the adm
tions and again voted that 'the name of the Council shall b
Council (Asanteman Nhyiamu)" '.63
In official documents, however, the Council would be referr
'Asanteman Council', an obvious compromise which again made
impact on, the Ashanti themselves. As a past Secretary of the A
subsequently observed:
The name Ashanti Confederacy Council was coined by the British
To the Chiefs and people of Ashanti, this region is known as a Natio
'Asante-man ' which means Ashanti Nation, and its Council' Manhyi
ing of the nation. ' Asanteman Council' is but a compromise.64

The change from 'Confederacy' to 'Asanteman' or 'Natio

however, much more important than the British were led to b
formal recognition that the confederative system had been sur
that the loose ties among the divisions of Ashanti were being st
more binding political reality. That this reality involved more than
denomination for ' schools and colleges ' was shown by the op
' Asanteman ' by those divisions-such as the Brong states-w
refused identification with the Ashanti nation, and resisted an
local autonomy.
It was not a mere accident, for instance, that Dormaa decided
Confederacy in I95 , that is, shortly after the adoption of th
Statement of Grievances against the 'now styled Asanteman
contended

that the restoration was that of several States willingly and of their own accord agreeing to
come into a federation so as to make administration effective. Nowhere ... is there a sug-
gestion that the Sovereign independence of a State adhering to the Confederacy was thereby
lost or forfeited. No real reasons have been assigned for wishing to change the name Con-
federacy Council into Asanteman Council, but the impression the change has given to the
Dormaa State is that the change is expected to involve a change in the constitution of the
Council itself.65

Dormaa's fears that the new title would involve' a change in the constitution of the
Council' was borne out by the evidence. The composition of the Council, from its
original membership of 22 chiefs, was gradually brought to 30 members by I94I,
although a few more chiefs, as seen above, were unofficially admitted to its meetings
and participated in its decisions. A carefully selected group of five extraordinary
62 NAG/K, File I097, Chief Commissioner to 65 AA/K, Statement of Grievances, 195 , par. II and
Asantehene, Kumasi, entry No. 0373/360, n.d., also 12. The' impression ' was confirmed four years later
enclosed in Minutes, June 1950, App. XII. by the other Brong states when they testified that the
63 Ibid., p. 50. change of name ' shows the intent to sugjugate [sic]
64 Interview with E. Edusei, Snr., 13 Aug. 1969, the independent Divisions and m
Field Notes, p. 73. On the meaning of o-man, see of the Golden Stool'. Gold Coa
Christaller, I88i, p. 294. p. 4; see also Field Notes, I. K. Agyeman, p. 69.

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 Io8 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

members, or educated commoners, were also co-opted to the Council, alth

were not statutory members and their duties were to be only 'of an advisory
In 1947 the Council was further reorganized on a population basis, and
membership more than doubled: the Kumasi division was given five more
tives, the divisions of Adanse, Juaben, Dormaa, Mampong, Nkoranza, an
were each given one additional representative, and four new divisional c
added. In addition to this, the Asantehemaa, or Queen Mother of A
recognized as full member of the Council, and the Asantehene was e
moreover, to nominate ' not more than ten persons of Ashanti birth ' su
approval of the Chief Commissioner.67
Thus the Council, from an initial membership of 22, was raised to 54
roughly one fifth of whom were nominated by the Asantehene, while more t
fifth (14 members) represented the Kumasi division alone. The feelings o
ment from, and suspicion towards, the work of the Council, which Bus
from the early 940S,68 could not but be increased by the I947 reform. A
later, the Brong states voiced such apprehensions when they complained
additional members of the Council 'affect the voting power in the C
Council to the advantage of the Kumasi Division '.69

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

The increased membership of the Council, and the distance of many divisions from
Kumasi, resulted in the delegation of powers to a restricted group of chiefs and
mainly Kumasi-based members who acted in the Council's name, first through an
informal Standing Committee, and later through the more important Executive
Committee.

The Standing Committee of the Confederacy Council, set up in the early I940s,
operated only for a short period of time between I945 and I947. Its role was stated
to be merely advisory;70 it prepared the agenda of each meeting of the Council and
presented recommendations on the various items. The Committee was presided over
by the Asantehene, who also appointed its members. Except on one occasion, when
the Kokofuhene protested the continuous presence of the Mamponghene and the
Juabenhene in the Committee as being ' embarassing ' for minor chiefs,7I the Asante-
hene's appointments to the Standing Committee usually received the unanimous
support of the Council.
In I947, however, the advisory Standing Committee was superseded by an' Execu-
tive Committee with full powers delegated to them by the members of the Council
to make decisions and to tender advice on its behalf'.72 Although the Order 41/1947
66 Minutes, 1935, p. 9. They were: E. O. Asafu- majority of the chiefs present, was referred to a
Adjaye, J. B. and J. G. Edusei, J. S. Kankam, and special committee which rejected it. In spite of the
I. K. Agyeman. fact that the Bekwaihene and a few other chiefs
67 Ashanti Confederacy Council, Order 4I/I947. complained that the Committ
This.last clause was later amended conditioning the our unanimous decision ', t
Asantehene's nominations to the approval of the with the committee's decis
Governor. Order 147/I950. were confirmed in their appointment. See Minutes,
68 Busia, 195I, pp. I92-3. 1946, pp. 52-3, 58-9.
69 Gold Coast, Report, 1955, p. 4. 72 NAG/K, File I097, Speech of the Chief Com-
70 Minutes, I945, p. 56. missioner to a special meeting of the Council,
71 The Kokofuhene's protest, supported by a I3 Dec. 1946, entries 47/9.

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL Io9

limited itself to giving this Committee ' such functions ... as may from t
be assigned to it by the Confederacy Council ', the Executive Committee
become the backbone of the Council, a ' sieve' for the 'more important
tentious matters ' to be brought before it.73
The Executive Committee consisted of the Asantehene as President, an
members of the Council appointed to serve for a period of three years. S
twelve members were to be appointed by the Asantehene, and six were t
by him from a list of eight names submitted by the Council. The Comm
legal quorum when seven members were present.74 Since the Council usua
once or twice a year,75 it was in the Executive Committee that 'all important
were first made '.76
As first constituted in 1947, the Committee showed a pattern of mem
which was adhered to in subsequent appointments. Around a cluster of
Amanhene, i.e. the Mamponghene, the Juabenhene and the Essumegyahen
were two divisional chiefs (the Dormaahene and the Adansehene) and seve
based members, i.e. three Nsafohene (Adonten, Kronti, and Akyempim)
educated commoners (the two Asafu-Adjaye brothers, I. K. Agyeman
Addai).78 When the Executive Committee was reconstituted in I 9 5 , the b
was repeated since two Kumasi commoners (C. E. Osei and C. Kessie)
stituted for two Nsafohene, and the Berekumhene simply replaced the Do
What is interesting here is that in all cases the Executive Committee
around a quorum which was formed by Kumasi members; that is, the c
presence of Nsafohene and educated commoners from Kumasi always as
possibility of making speedy decisions with an easily convenable Comm
reason for this was clear, and was indeed the same reason which had all
Kumasi division to double its original representation in the Council. In th
I. K. Agyeman:
... the point was that the people in Kumasi were accessible day and night for s
meetings lasted till 12 o'clock p.m.... And those were hard days when new prob
almost everyday which needed immediate settlements.. . . Such schedules were
to the inconvenience of members who came from outside Kumasi. And this was
from Kumasi were always required to be members of the Council, but people d
this. They thought that it was a matter of choice whilst it was a matter of nece
73 NAG/K, Digest, p. 2. leader. He would be empty. He could say: " You
74 The Native Authority (Ashanti) Ordinance,
can't take me by surprise like this, you can't oblige
0. 41/1947. me to participate without my arms ", so there was
75 Until 1949, the Council normally met need once a to be there' (Field Notes, I. B. Asafu-
for them
year, in September or October, with occasional Adjaye, p. 27).
Emergency Sessions in addition (NAG/K, 78Digest,
NAG/K, File I097, Asantehene to Chief Com-
p. 2). In 1949 the Council decided 'to meet missioner,
twice in 7 March I947.
a year, i.e. one in February and one in November', 79 NAG/K, File I097, Asantehene to Chief Com-
while the Executive Committee ' will meet when and missioner, 14 June 1950. In practice, however, as
where necessary but it should not be more than six in the full Council itself, Committee membership
times in every year '. Minutes, Emergency Session, seems not to have been fixed, nor the quorum
Nov. 1948, p. 77. rigidly observed. See, for instance, the composition
76 Field Notes, C. Kessie, p. 32. of the Executive in November 1948 and February
77 ' And that is why the Asantehene had to have the I950. Executive Committee Meeting, Minutes, Emer-
upper part of the echelon of sovereignty in Ashanti. gency Session, Nov. 1948, and ibid., Feb. 1950.
He would be empty without the Mamponghene his 80 Field Notes, I. K. Agyeman, p. 66.
right wing leader and the Juabenhene his left wing

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IIO THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL

A similar ' matter of necessity ' was clearly responsible for the increase
and expanded role, of the educated commoners in the Kumasi Executive
Committee's quorum was formed by four commoners and three Nsafohen
second one, by six commoners and one Nsafohene. Thus too the supposed
role ' of the commoners in the Council was transformed in the Executive Committee
where no voting took place: 'Nothing was pushed to that extent of claiming a
majority decision. It was a consensus of opinion arrived at. '8I Since the concurrence
of the educated commoners had to be sought in such consensus, it could be claimed:
So, any time they [the chiefs] took a decision they were secretly directed by the educated
class. This was done in the Executive Committee where all important decisions were first
made before they went into the open Assembly; we advised the Asantehene on the points
to take up in any important discussion. And so we had a voice in it.82

Thus, by the early I5 os, the Council's internal character had undergone important
changes. The old Confederacy Council had been superseded by an Asanteman whose
powers and modus operandi were greatly affected on one side by the increased powers
of the Asantehene, and on the other by a more effective and centralizing executive,
whose base of operation and source of power was in Kumasi.
Council administration in the late 1940s and early 950S reflected a pattern of
centralization which caused considerable unease both in the Confederacy and in the
Colony at large. The secessions of Dormaa in 195 I, and Takyiman in I956, were to
show the limitations of this policy, and to set the stage for the later decline in power
of the Asanteman Council after Ghana achieved independence in 1957.

REFERENCES

ARHIN, K. 1967.' The Structure of Greater Ashanti, 700-I824 ', Journal of African History
BEECHAM, J. 1841. Ashantee and the Gold Coast. London.
BOWDICH, T. E. I8I9. Alissionfrom Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee. London.
BUSIA, K. A. I95 . The Position of the Chief in the Modern Political System of Ashanti. London.
CHRISTALLER, J. G. 1881. A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language. Basel.
DuPUIs, J. 1824. Journal of a Residence in Ashantee. London.
RATTRAY, R. S. 1929. Ashanti Law and Constitution. London.
ROBERTSON, G. A. 1819. Notes on Africa. London.
SARBAH, J. M. 1906. Fanti National Constitution. London.
TORDOFF, W. I965. Ashanti under the Prempehs I88J-I9ry. London.
TRIULZr, A. The Ashanti Confederacy (Asanteman) Council, 1935-I957, Field Notes, Inst
Studies, Legon, summer I969.
WILKS, I. I967. ' Ashanti Government', in D. Forde and P. M. Kaberry (eds.), IWest African
Nineteenth Century. London.
Gold Coast, Report. I955. Report of the Committee on Asanteman-Brong Dispute. Accra.
NAG/K, File 1097. National Archives of Ghana, Kumasi, File No. 1097: Ashanti Conf
Re-organization of.
NAG/K, Digest. National Archives of Ghana, Kumasi, Ashanti Confederacy Council, Digest
of the Minutes of the Ashanti Confederacy Council from 93 5 to I949 inclusive and a r
Warrington's Notes on Ashanti Custom prepared for the use of District Commissioners
AA/K, Statement of Grievances. Asanteman Archives, Manhyia, Kumasi, Statement of Grievanc
State, 12 Feb. 1951.
Alinutes. Asanteman Archives, Manhyia, Kumasi, Minutes of the Ashanti Confederacy (Asa
Sessions.
IAS, Wallace-Johnson. Report on the Restoration of the Ashanti Confederacy, compiled by T. A. Wallace-Johnson,
1935, Institute of African Studies, Legon, Ghana, Ashanti Court Records, vol. 5, IAS/49, pp. 1-48.

8219,
81 Ibid., I. B. Asafu-Adjaye, p. Ibid., C. Kessie, p. 32.

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 THE ASANTEHENE-IN-COUNCIL III

Resume

L'ASHANTEHENE AU SEIN DU CONSEIL: LA POLITIQUE ASHANTI

SOUS LA REGLE COLONIALE, 1935-50

SE basant premierement sur les archives du Conseil de la Confdderation Ashanti a Kumasi,

et sur une serie d'interviews menes au cours de l'ete I969, l'auteur analyse la structure et
la dynamique interne du Gouvernement Ashanti sous la domination britannique dans la
periode 1935-5o .
Apres avoir examine les limites de la ' restauration' de 1935, il analyse la croissance des
pouvoirs de l'Ashantehene, dont les meilleurs exemples sont: un droit de nomination
largement utilise; la co-option en dehors de toute regle de representants non officiels a
l'interieur du Conseil; les essais couronnes de succes de creer un executif plus fort; toutes
ces tentatives furent vainement contestees par les autorites coloniales.
Les ordres du Conseil, s'identifiant de plus en plus avec ceux de l'Ashantehene, les con-
traintes a leur liberte d'expression pergues par de nombreux conseillers, le systeme meme
de sanction impose par le Conseil, tout refletait une confusion fondamentale entre les
fonctions traditionnelles et les responsabilites modernes. En meme temps, cependant, on
notait d'eloquents symptomes d'un changement d'equilibre des pouvoirs a l'interieur du
Conseil.
Mais, au milieu de l'annee 1940, les prerogatives etendues de l'Assemblee Ashanti,
rivalisant avec l'autorite croissante de l'Ashantehene au sein de cette Assemblee, exigeait
une nouvelle structure pour un corps legislatif tres different de l'institution soigneusement
equilibre que les Britanniques avaient creee en I935. La reforme institutionnelle opree
vers I95 7 accrut davantage l'influence des membres du Conseil et la sphere de leurs activites,
institutionnalisant ainsi les changements que le Conseil avait formellement evoques, et
defacto executes, au cours des annees precedentes.
Le pays Ashanti, en I940 au plus tard et au plus t6t en I950 presentait un modele de
centralisation qui provoquait un malaise considerable a la fois parmi les districts eloignes
des Ashanti et dans la colonie au sens le plus large. Les secessions de Dormaa en 195 i et de
Takyiman en I956 ont souligne les carences de cette politique et annonce l'inevitable declin
du Conseil apres l'independance du pays.

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