Some Asante Views of Colonial Rule: As Seen in the Controversy Relating to Death Duties

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Periodical article

Title:	Some Asante Views of Colonial Rule: As Seen in the Controversy Relating to Death Duties
Author:	Arhin, Kwame
Year:	1995
Periodical:	Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana
Issue:	1
Pages:	137-161
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ghana Great Britain
Subjects:	colonialism inheritance tax economic development Ashanti polity Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/41406615
Abstract:	The most significant aspect of the role of British colonial administration in economic development in Asante (Ghana) in the early 20th century lay in 'removing traditional political restraints on the accumulation of private capital and thus increasing the sources of finance for economic activities'. For this reason, colonial rule was welcome to traders and other men of property. Correspondence on death duties which appears to demonstrate this point is reproduced here, together with comments by colonial officials, and notes on apparently obscure allusions in the correspondence. The letters are preceded by a note on death duties and on the signatories, who were all 'akonkofo' (men of wealth and, therefore, of prestige or influence). There is also a comment on the origin of political conflict in Asante, with the author arguing that it is a mistake to date all economic changes and associated socioeconomic differentiation in Asante society to the beginning of the colonial period. Notes, ref.