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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Locating the Politics of a Sierra Leonean Chiefdom |
Author: | Fanthorpe, Richard |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |
Volume: | 68 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 558-584 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Sierra Leone |
Subjects: | Limba local politics traditional polities Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Politics and Government |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1161166 |
Abstract: | The chiefdoms of Sierra Leone are institutions of colonial origin but nevertheless continue to serve as local government units in the postcolonial State. The prevailing view among scholars is that these institutions have little basis in indigenous political culture, and have furthermore become breeding grounds of political corruption. This article, however, argues that such conclusions are premature. With reference to Biriwa, a Limba chiefdom in Northern Province of Sierra Leone, the article shows that historical precedent, in many cases relating to prominent political figures of the late 19th century, continues to serve as a primary means of ordering local rights in land, settlement and political representation. It argues that historical precedent fills a lacuna created by the persistent failure of successive Sierra Leone governments to complete the extension of modern measures of citizenship (such as the registration of births and deaths, and written deeds and title to land) to the rural populace. Rights and properties have become progressively localized in villages originally registered for tax collection in the early colonial era. The conservative nature of Biriwa politics emerges as a pragmatic response to a perennial problem of uncertain citizenship. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. |