The Lady Chief

This excerpt is taken from part of the Introduction and Chapter One. Can you include Image 5? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qk2JWurU3JWIapi-rZ_wjf8Ho2bHxBIh/view?usp=drive_link “ SPIRITUALITY The character of a chief must be special. A chief should be firm but caring towards the people over whom he/she reigns. A chief should be responsible and honest with the property in the palace and the stool lands associated with it. A chief may not give away or sell any land delegated to the stool. The chief has both an administrative and a spiritual role to play for the clan or the tribe. Spiritually, the chief is the mediator between the ancestors and the people he/she leads. The chief must respect the traditions of the ancestors, and observe them faithfully. The chief does not go out in public alone. He/she must always be accompanied by a member of the palace or a friend. As such, the chief lives a life apart. The chief in public is not a normal citizen. If you greet a chief on a public street, you must bow at the waist, offer a greeting and not look into his/her eyes. Respect must always be shown a chief, or else he/she can fine you. If the chief is a woman, then she must dress in the style of a male chief. Her hair is cut short like a man's and she must wear no jewelry except that which could be worn by a man. A chief plays a spiritual role in maintaining the care and rites concerning the stool room. The spirits of the ancestors are always present in the stool room. For an Akan chief, there are rites to be performed on Wednesday and Sunday every 40 days. Annually, there are harvests of thanksgiving to be celebrated for the tribe, the town and one's own chieftaincy. In my town, our annual thanksgiving festival is called Ahwie. A chief walks a fine line between being widely respected in public, and being very humble and available to the people of the clan and town. Humility and faith are valuable characteristics. So is honesty. In former times, when the people of a clan or a town wanted to remove a chief from his/her role, they would meet with the chief's council and discuss the matter. If there were serious matters of dishonesty, stealing or abuse of the subjects, the majority of the council members would vote to remove their support from the chief. Then they would send a delegation to the chief, lift the chief off the ground and remove his sandals from his feet. By this symbolic action, the chief was deposed, or using the local idiom, “destooled.” In modern times, this happens rarely. This is because the modern chiefs have used their influence to create laws which force their subjects to use the civil courts to remove them from power. Chapter 1 MY HISTORY There is an Ashanti proverb, “Wudi wo agya akyi a, wusua ne nantew,” or in English, “When you follow behind your father, you learn to walk like him. ” This proverb is true for me. I was raised by good parents. They loved and cared for me, and I learned to do what is right from their example. This book tells the story of my chieftaincy of the Dwumana Clan of Kukuratumi. To help the reader understand, I will share something of my early life. According to the tradition of our tribe, a chief is chosen for his/her qualities, which will be beneficial to the peace and prosperity of the tribe. One’s bloodline is important in our matrilineal society to know who is eligible. It is also very important to have qualities of generosity, justice and wisdom. These latter qualities are not inherited by blood. They are formed by one’s upbringing and the character of one’s parents. Fortunately, my parents instilled in me qualities that are useful to a chief. I want to share a little about my parents, my upbringing, my clan and what it was like growing up in the small town of Kukurantumi, in the British colony of the Gold Coast. MY EARLY YEARS There are eight major clans among the Akyem Abuakwa tribe, and my clan, Dwumana, is a sub-clan of one of the eight, the Asona Clan. I was born into the Dwumana Clan of Kukurantumi in 1946. My forbears, in the 1700s, had come to Kukurantumi and settled there. My parents named me Akosua Kwabua. I was named Akosua because I was a girl born on Sunday. Every girl in my tribe received that name if they were born on Sunday. My surname, Kwabua, was the name of my grandmother on my father’s side, who had come to our area from the Ashanti tribe, to the north of us. My earliest memory was living in my grandfather’s house in the oldest section of Kukurantumi. In 1949, our town had grown in population, and the house in which I was born was torn down to make way for a post office building. I was three years old and living with my mother. My grandfather had died and my mother and I became homeless. In those days, we were always on the move from one house or another. We would at times stay with some of our relatives. At times, disagreements would come, and my mother always left to keep the peace. She was a giving person. She was generous with everyone and with everything. She was the first to settle in an undeveloped area of our town. When people wanted to move near, she gave them some of her land. My uncle, Kwaku Asare, better known as Oseawuo No matter where we lived, she would get us children up early in the morning to sweep and clean the whole compound and fetch water on behalf of the rest of the people. When she cooked, she made sure all her neighbors were fed at the same times as her family. My uncle Kwaku Asare, nicknamed Oseawuo, got married after our grandfather’s death, but he never was too far from his sister, my Mom. There was a great bond between my mother and Kwaku Asare. They were each other’s protector.”