Ghana: Information on the line of succession of land in an Ashanti tribal/clan area cultivated by the chief; on who would have the right to work or own the land, for example, would his children and/or siblings
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GHA20705.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ghana: Information on the line of succession of land in an Ashanti tribal/clan area cultivated by the chief; on who would have the right to work or own the land, for example, would his children and/or siblings, 1 May 1995, GHA20705.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab162c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Ashanti or Asante are a dialect grouping of the Akan peoples and as such follow the principle of matrilineal descent (Kaplan 1971, 94-95; Oppong 1981, 28).
According to Oppong, land may be classified as stool [chieftain] property, family property and private property (1981, 29). Family property is the land used by lineage members for their farms (ibid.). Disposal of private property either by "gift or will depends upon the knowledge and public consent of the owner's matrilineage. Property which remains to be inherited at death becomes either stool property or matrilineage property" (ibid., 30).
In a telephone interview a professor of economics who specializes in Ghanaian affairs at the American University in Washington, DC stated that the property at the disposal of a chieftain may include, besides stool lands, his personal property and property given to the chieftain "in trust," for example when a family temporarily vacates the land (18 May 1995). Title to this land remains with the family who gave it to the chief in trust (ibid.). Stool property always remains the property of the chieftain and is held in trust for the community unless the community otherwise decides to dispose of it (ibid.).
For general information on the matrilineal system of property succession among the Akan/Ashanti peoples, please consult Responses to Information Requests GHA19764.E of 21 February 1995; GHA17315.E of 6 May 1994; GHA7979 of 16 May 1991. For information on civil law as it relates to succession, please consult the attached articles. For general information on land tenure and title transferral, please consult Response to Information Request GHA20659.E of 18 May 1995. All of the above Responses to Information Requests are available at Regional Documentation Centres.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Kaplan, Irving et al. 1971. Area Handbook for Ghana. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Oppong, Christine. 1981. Middle Class African Marriage. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Professor of Economics, specializing in Ghanaian affairs, American University, Washington, DC. 18 May 1995. Telephone interview.
Attachments
The International Lawyer [Dallas.] Summer 1992. Vol. 26, No. 2. Ernest K. Bankas. "Problems of Intestate Succession and the Conflict of Laws in Ghana," pp. 433-446; 485.
Journal of Family Law [Louisville]. 1988-89. Michael D.A. Freeman. "Ghana: Legislation for Today," pp. 159-162.