Resolving the Anufor (Chokosi) chieftaincy conundrum: The case of Anufor communities in Ghana

The Anufor (Chokosi) belong to the Akan (kwa) language classification with origins in Cote d’Ivoire and speak a language intelligible to the Baule and Sefwi. Oral traditions point to a close affinity with Baule.

Some Anufor have even claimed that there isn’t any distinction between the two.

The people of Anou/Baule in Ivory Coast are matrilineal though their relatives the Anufor have become patrilineal after they embarked on mercenary activities in the mid-18th century and finally settling in Sansanne Mango in the Republic of Togo, and in Ghana (Chereponi and surrounding villages) in North East Region.

After several centuries in their present location, they are still atypical and strikingly different from their neighbors, not much acculturation has taken place and they have evolved distinct traditions and practices. Any attempt to import chieftaincy traditions of their neighbors and use the same to deny others of the right to be chiefs would be naturally resisted.

As far as chieftaincy in Anuforland is concerned, persons who hold the view that only members of a particular clan or clans can occupy or hold chieftaincy positions especially outside the traditional home of Nzara (SanSanne Mango) may be doing so in error, out of ignorance or deliberately distorting facts for selfish gains.

Historical facts reveal that traditional leadership and chieftaincy positions among the Anufor are peculiar and embedded in their history of origin and settlement patterns. For several centuries, apart from the chief of Nzara, Anufor communities never really had chiefs.

Therefore, no Anufor with a deep understanding of their distinct migratory history and dynamic/evolving practices would make the mistake of thinking that such positions are the sole preserve of some particular clans, especially as far as settlements in Ghana are concerned.

The office of the Nzara feme is perhaps the oldest traditional office of the Anufor as it has been in existence since 1770. As old as it may seem, it has witnessed some changes and compromises over time.

It is the case that only the Jabu or the descendants of Biema Bonsafu ascended to the throne of overlord of Anufor in Nzara until the intervention of the Germans in 1898 which led to the assassination of Biema Asabie.

Consequently, the Sangbana who were believed to have sided with the Germans and betrayed the larger Anufor interest got the opportunity to occupy the skin in 1898. Subsequently, the first Sangbana chief called Feme Adjanda ruled from 1898-1900 and handed over to Feme Nachaba, another Sangbana chief who reigned until 1912.

Since this period, the chieftaincy title has rotated between the Jabu and Sangbana. There is thus enough evidence of changes to the succession arrangements occasioned by events of the time, which also depopulated Nzara.

Anufor settlements on the Ghana side became populated largely after the German onslaught, as many fled Nzara because of the high handedness of German rule. Those fleeing Nzara initially settled at Nalori which was an outpost for the Anufor army and later left and founded farming and hunting communities. Such villages only had the offices of miefor (earth priest) and or miekpie (elder) who were their leaders.

It is thus instructive to note that most of these clan-based villages or communities did not have chiefs and many still do not have any such office though the trend is nonetheless changing and rightly so.

Apart from heterogeneous communities that are often referred to as Zongoes which are normally a conglomeration of Anufor from various clans including non-Anufor (Hausa, Fulani, Moba, Konkomba etc), typically, Anufor settlement patterns are usually clan based and mostly reflect their battle order positions and has remained so after pre-colonial legitimate warfare.

It is therefore not uncommon to find identifiable homogenous settlements known as Fomboro, Jabu, Sangbana, Asadoro, Samti, Konkono villages or communities. For example, whereas Wenchiki, Nambiri, Kpatani and Adibo are purely Fomboro settlements, Nansoni and Tombu are Jabu and Santi clan settlements respectively.

In view of the above, it is inconceivable for any person or groups of persons to try or even moot the idea of becoming chiefs in a community or village inhabited, founded or owned by another clan. The jurisdiction of the Anufor feme in SanSanne Mango does not extend beyond Nzara and surrounding communities.

Hence no one can claim that because he’s from a royal Anufor clan in Nzara he can extend such royalty to Ghana and begin asserting his authority over communities largely or solely inhabited by the Fomboro, Asadoro, Samti, Konkono, Badara or any other distinct clan other than his.

The Chereponi skin has been occupied by members of the Asadoro clan since colonial times though not from the Jabu or Sangbana royal clans as pertains in Nzara, the Asadoro has solely occupied it without any contestations. The notion that only two clans have the right to become chiefs in Anufor communities irrespective of where they are located is not supported by history and facts on the ground, and the Chereponi skin is a case in point.

It is appropriate and makes common sense that the chief of a Fomboro community/village should be a Fomboro, irrespective of whether his father was a chief or not, because Anufor has a unique history and that should be the case in other Anufor clan-based communities.

Anything short of this would be an imposition akin to European imposition of ‘alien’ warrant chiefs on autochthones, a grave anomaly and such chiefs cannot function whatsoever.