The Politics of Property Rights: The Case of Akyem Abuakwa, Ghana (1912–1943)

Abstract

Some political historians, such as Rathbone and Firmin-Sellers, have argued that some traditional rulers under colonial rule introduced new property rights by reinventing tradition and enforcing them within their traditional states to satisfy their own parochial interest. This article employs archival, secondary, and oral sources to critically clarify the exceptional case of Nana Ofori Atta I's to put forward a contrary view. It argues that Nana Ofori Atta I, with great political will where his predecessors failed, came up with some pragmatic, practical, and problem-solving measures in order to make the indigenous concept of land ownership beneficial for the larger community.