Asante Queenmothers: Precolonial Authority in a Postcolonial Society

Abstract

While the Asantehene and the Asantehemmaa are well known figures in Ghana, less familiar are the many queen mothers who function in parallel roles to chiefs in every Asante town and paramountcy. Ignored by the British and generally bypassed by modem Ghanaian leaders, queen mothers have nevertheless continued to serve their constituencies faithfully. More recently, however, globalization has discovered them, and external sources are beginning to seek them out for local projects. Yet, queen mothers continue to face serious obstacles as a precolonial female authority in a postcolonial society. ResumeBien quo le Roi et la Reine des Asante soient tres connus au Ghana, la plupart des Reinesmeres qui jouent parallelement les roles de chefs dans tous les milieux Asante son) moins reconnues. En depit du fait qu'elles sont ignorees par les Britaniques et non reconnues en general par les leaders ghaneens actuels, les Reines-meres continuent de servir loyalement leurs chefferies. Cependant, le concept de la mondialisation a tres reeemment pcrmis de les redecouvrir. C'est ainsi que des organisations etrangeres commencent a lesreperer pour des projets locaux. Apre-s tout, les Reines-meres font toujours face a de serieux problemes par le fait qu'elles constituent un pouvoir feminin precolonial dans une soeie:e postcoloniale.

Queen mothers, NGOs, and orphans: Transformations in traditional women's political organization in an era of HIV and orphanhood in Manya Klo, Ghana

“…Instead, they preferred centralized system of the Akans, where one leader acted on behalf of the towns and villages (Field 1940). In common with the Ashanti (Fortes 1960;Stoeltje 2003), lineage became the basis for the organization of the new political system in Manya Klo (Huber 1963).…”

“…As a consequence of the co-existence of a power structure under a male leader and one under a female leader, power is constantly shifting and negotiated (and lost) between them (Stoeltje 2003). In theory, the Klo queen mother and her chief are placed on the same hierarchical level, but the parallel ordering of female and male political positions and the complementarity of roles do not amount to equal powers.…”

“…Urbanization and migration led to poor social amenities, neglect of kinsmen and growing rural poverty. Ultimately, queen mothers in the MKTA, and even others whose regions were endowed with natural resources such as the Akan queen mothers, were unable to support their work (Stoeltje 2003).…”

“…Only a few interventions have explored ways in which traditional female leaders could be empowered to enable them to support orphans. In other words, traditional female leaders have increasingly been asked to take on more responsibilities, but there appears to be very little emphasis on empowering them to meet their obligations (Stoeltje 2003).…”

Female Traditional Leaders (Queen Mothers) and Community Planning and Development in Ghana

“…One of the queen mothers remarked: This achievement was found to be influenced by the demands of the position of a queen mother. Queen mothers are recognized as the embodiment of motherhood and women in the Akan society (Stoeltje, 2003) and in view of this taking good care of girls and women is a priority. The achievement of the queen mothers were found to associate more with human development issues such as helping to reduce social deprivation and poverty which Sen (1999) stressed as important component of development that must be looked at to improve the welfare and freedom of individuals.…”