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Title: | The Last Will and Testament of Kofi Staha: A Note on Accumulation and Inheritance in Colonial Asante |
Author: | McCaskie, Thomas C. |
Year: | 1999 |
Periodical: | Ghana Studies |
Volume: | 2 |
Pages: | 171-181 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ghana |
Subjects: | Ashanti polity customary law family law biographies (form) Law, Human Rights and Violence History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) colonialism |
Abstract: | Kofi (John 'Papa') Sraha of Kumase and Abrepo (Ghana) was a famous businessman. He died in 1936 as one of the wealthiest commoners in all Asante. Throughout his life he was a leader of those who claimed the right to dispose of personally accumulated wealth. He was probably the first Asante to draw up a notarized last will and testament, to appoint legal executors to implement it, and to have the courts enforce its disposition. The present article explores Kofi Sraha's last will focusing on patterns of accumulation and inheritance in colonial Asante. The article is not based on the will, itself, which has not come to light yet, but on other sources, such as the minutes of the Ashanti Farmers Association 1934-1936 and Kumase Court Records. Notes, ref. |