#MONARCHS: #Kings #Emperors #Chiefs in GHANA! NO! #CHIEF is one of the Eurocentric insults to the AKAN people of now Ghana. Its implies a rude rendering of Akan native potentates subservient to European KINGS so I personally never use CHIEF in my academic writings. On the other hand too to call any native potentate KING or MONARCH also smells of a sense of Racial inferiority (complex) on the part of the AKAN/African people who have developed some obssesion for such TERM. In GHANA now people are fond of using KING and MONARCH for some AHENFO which I find disturbing. Some are still caught in the obssession of striving to render themselves EUROPEANS because to them THAT is the HEIGHT of superiority so you still hear HIS ROYAL MAJESTY and all the other NONSENSES when in AKAN each OHEN/OHENE has his Honorific appellation! VERY silly to hear His Royal Majesty OTUMFUOR/OSABARIMA/DAASEBRE/OSAGYEFO....akin to sying SHARIA LAW or MOUNT AFADJATO when Sharia means LAW and TO means mountain. So to say Sharia Law is to say LAW-LAW and to say Mount Afadjato is to say Mount Afadja Mountain... :) KING or MONARCH can not be an accurate English rendition of the Akan title OHEN/OHENE (Plural: Ahenfo). All these are culturally Charged titles and they carry with them/invoke the philosophies of their respective societies concerning POWER and CONTROL. KING/MONARCH in Europe practically OWNS the land and the people (Biopower and GeoPower). We may say the ROYAL house is equivalent to EBUSUA in Akan so if the lands are vested in the Crown then its just like when we say the land is vested in the EBUSUA. But, In Europe the KING administers the land and taxes the people PERSONALLY by virtue of his office. And in AKAN two or Three EBUSUA can own lands in the same OMAN (state). So in Asanteland the Oyoko Ebusua (the Ebusua of Asantehene) does not control ALL the lands in the Asante Region as some are made to perceive. And Asantehene CANNOT even start using the term TERRITORY because, as made clear above, he doesnt control LAND..AND THIS IS NOT TO MAKE ANYONE FEEL less, unless you have problem with being AKAN because this pertains in ALL AKAN context. Again a KING/QUEEN takes over the mantle from HIS/HER FATHER! In AKAN philosophy the OHEN/OHENE does not own or control LAND by virtue of his office and thus CANNOT administer/sell land. The Land is vested in the EBUSUA and administered by the EBUSUAPANYIN. OMANFO (the people) are not taxed by the OHEN/OHENE and they are not his SUBJECTS as pertains in the European context. In Akan we use MEDEHYE which implies being one with the OHENE in ROYALTY!! So everyone in the land is a ROYAL TOO, not like in EUROPE that ALL OTHERS outside the Castles are TAXABLE Sefs and land tenants and subjects! Anyone who needed land (in the era when European world view hadnt contaminated us) just walked to the EBUSUAPANYIN of the ruling Ebusua with witnesses and token to ask for land to farm or build on EVEN WITHOUT THE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE OHEN in same cases. An attempt to Contaminate our system wth European system under the colonial INDIRECT RULE made many AHENFO lose their honour because FOR OHEN/OHENE to impose direct taxes on the people (as were made to do under the Poll Tax Ordinacne) was a TREASON to the Akan peoples. OHEN/OHENE does not inherit the STOOL/mandate from his FATHER like in the case of KINGS/MONARCHS in Europe! ABSOLUTISM is a dominat feature of the title/term KING/MONARCH which does NOT exist in the conceptualisation of OHEN/OHENE in Akan. OHENE does NOT wield ABSOLUTE power in any Akan society. He would controlling ALL LANDS and wielding power to enfore taxes if he were ABSOLUTE. In Europe unless by palace courta KING cnt be removed. OHEN/OHENE is hereditary office but CAN BE REMOVED IN AKAN SOCIETY without the use of Violence or willful abdiction. Lets RESPECT our world views and definition(s) of life as captured in our ancient language and philosphies and desist from CORRUPTING our society with the blind imitation of Eurocentric concepts wich only upsets the harmony in our society. Through Ignorance of this or WILLFUL negligence we have AHENFO breaching their consience and tradition to sell lands or usurp the mandate, creating confusion and upsetting effort at development.... -ABEKU Adams SPEAKS! #Tufuhen_In_Waiting
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:38:08 +0000
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