Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Politicization, elite manipulation, or institutional weaknesses? The search for alternative explanations to the Dagbon chieftaincy disputes in northern Ghana
Author:Anamzoya, Alhassan SulemanaISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:Research Review (ISSN 0855-4412)
Volume:24
Issue:1
Pages:1-25
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Ghana
West Africa
Subjects:succession
chieftaincy
political conflicts
customary law
History, Archaeology
Dagbani (African people)--Kings and rulers--Succession
Chiefdoms
Ghana--History
Abstract:This paper looks at alternative explanations to the Dagbon chieftaincy disputes in northern Ghana. The most recent of these disputes in 2002 resulted in the death of the king ('Ya Na') of the kingdom. The paper presents a historical examination of the origin of what have come to be known as the Abudu and Andani factions and analyses the events after the Supreme Court judgment in 1986 on the legal tussle between the Abudus and the Andanis, up to March 27, 2002. It argues that, first, the failure of the founders of the Dagbon kingdom to establish a regularized and patterned system of choosing a 'Ya Na' explains the recurring nature of the Dagbon chieftaincy disputes, otherwise called the Yendi Skin Affairs. Second, the inability of the PNDC (Provisional National Defence Council) government to enforce the decisions reached and agreed upon by both parties in the 1987 reconciliation between the Abudus and the Andanis underlies the 2002 open conflict. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract, edited]
Views