Indirect Rule System of Local Government in Ghana

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Periodical article

Title:	Indirect Rule System of Local Government in Ghana
Author:	Asibuo, S.K.
Year:	2002
Periodical:	Africa Quarterly
Volume:	42
Issue:	3
Pages:	1-29
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	indirect rule Politics and Government colonialism History and Exploration
Abstract:	The British came to the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) for economic reasons and subsequently set up a government to protect their economic and other interests. Indirect rule was adopted out of necessity. The British established a stable system of native authorities by making use of indigenous political organization. British colonial rule in the Gold Coast was essentially a bureaucratic form of government in which the district commissioners and other civil servants played a dominant role in local administration. Despite its exploitative character, British rule conferred some benefits on the natives. The operation of indirect rule encountered many problems as a result of the environment in which it worked. Besides their incapacity to service the needs of the rural masses, the native authorities restricted popular political participation. Participation as an institutionalized form of grassroots politics became more effective after the Second World War, with the introduction of internal self-government in 1950 and modern representative local government in 1951. Ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]