- Queen motherhood is a celebrated and honored position among Ghanaian communities. The position held by queens endure just like those of kings, and in some cases, beyond.
- Remarkable women such as Nana Yaa Asante Waa of Ejusu who led to the Ashanti Kingdom, Ama Sewa, and Afrakuma Panyin ruled successfully as chiefs in the Asante Polity.
By Nadia Muthoni
Inclusivity in governance and economic activity tends to create bigger impact and go further than exclusivity. Ghana is a shining light to Africa in terms of democratic advancement. Also, Ghana’s economy has been among the fastest growing economies for the last decade.
Strengthening democracy at the grassroots level is especially important for a nation’s development and for that matter leaders both male and female are part of this development agenda. We have seen men doing impeccably great in assuming their roles. However, much is yet to be done in regard to the indispensable position and the role of women and the continuing efforts they are showing as an identified voice in a nation’s issues, more so in a typical African setting.
Inclusive governance has a long tradition in Ghana, for example. The governance style that involves women began before colonization came to Africa.
Among the Akan people, the practice of maintaining separate, parallel political hierarchies for the female and male sections of the population is a fundamental and presumably ancient feature of their political organization. In the pre-colonial Akan society, women were not normally subordinate to men.
“All issues pertaining primarily or exclusively to women (and there were many—political, economic, and cultural) and all conflicts between women were addressed within the context of this female hierarchy. Furthermore, issues involving both females and males like; adultery, rape, marital conflict, and so forth—were also handled by female stool-holders.” (Farrar, 1997, p. 6)
In today’s dispensation, African nations, including Ghana, are deeply characterized by gender, class, ethnic and religious identities. A reading of Africa societies traditional practices shows existence of little or no significant gender inequality. In Traditional African Society history of Ghana, women have always, as a matter of tradition, served as queen mothers; queens; and in some areas as political chiefs holding offices in towns and villages. Let us hang in there for a bit.
Queen motherhood is a celebrated and honored position among Ghanaian communities. The position held by queens endure just like those of kings, and in some cases, beyond.
Although Asantewaa lived in precolonial and colonial times, the fact that her achievements and her leadership were celebrated in the year 2000 – a century after she led 4,000 men into battle against the aggression of colonialists, is a testimony to the impact her life’s contributions to the tradition and history of the Ghanaian people. The matriarchal tradition—her position as Queen Mother of Ejisu—gave her power as well as access to male chiefs, so she could influence their decision to fight against British rule. Her power resided in her position as a matriarch.
When we talk of a queen, we look at a woman who assumes great power, one who wears several different crowns. Yet when we look at the responsibilities that come with these big titles we see “none” because they mostly go unappreciated.
Women tend to undergo scrutiny in their lives, but their efforts get less than commensurate recognition. With the different roles and responsibilities that came with the name, even though their impact remained low, they were expected to perform duties such as being caretakers and entrepreneurs at the same time, being educators in the societies, inducing policy-induced change as well as helping achieve sustainability targets in the society.
Remarkable women such as Nana Yaa Asante Waa of Ejusu who led to the Ashanti Kingdom, Ama Sewa, and Afrakuma Panyin ruled successfully as chiefs in the Asante Polity. This are women we have seen responsibly achieving these goals by showing a strong-willed character of self-reliance and personal achievement.
As our hearts and minds are rooted to culture, which is our legacy and future, we draw upon it to shape our identities as individuals, both male and female, as nations and as a people of different regions and extractions. It all narrows down to personal and collective development.
It is indeed good that we see this transformation that comes from social change, and a conscious effort, that is empowering women to take up these leadership roles that complement their male counterparts. With time we have seen women gradually making their leadership presence felt at global levels of service. The world is constantly evolving and reaching new milestones across a wide spectrum of beliefs.
Going by the strides Ghana is making in economic and political advancement, our entire continent of Africa can draw lessons of inclusivity, even though Ghana has a great head start because inclusivity is hard-wired in their traditions. The best take-away is that inclusivity is good for both economic and political progress. Ghana tells the whole story by being Africa’s foremost democracy and one of the fastest growing wealth creators in Africa.
