COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A SMALL-TOWN ELITE: A RESEARCH NOTE ON MATERIALS FOR A CASE STUDY

By Leo Barrington

Associate Dean (Retired) School of Continuing Education, New York
University. Foreign Area Fellow in Ghana, 1968-69. Sociologist in WHO
Research Project at the Volta Lake, 1972-74

 


The importance of the decentralization of local government in Ghana in the l980s and 1990s has led to a variety of descriptive accounts and commentary on policy implications for the country as a whole (Ayee 1994, Nugent 1995). Detailed studies of what has happened in localities across the country, however, are less plentiful. Research on Joromo in the Western Region (Daddieh 1998) and on East Akim in the Eastern Region and East Mamprusi in the Northern Region (Crook and Manor 1998) are among the few case studies that deal with citizen participation, representativeness of new local government officials, and effectiveness of the new system in specific local areas.

Crook and Manor generalize that the "dominant elites" in rural and small-town Ghana are "composed of the bigger farmers, traders and transporters together with government employees, teachers and professionals in the service sectors" (p. 202). Nugent notes generally that in the early 1990s the "local government reforms enabled the PNDC to strike up working relations with the most influential power brokers at the community level." It was further observed that "those who were elected to the District Assemblies tended to be the very same figures who conventionally dominated community affairs" (p. 205). Crook and Manor note the importance of making longitudinal comparisons before and after decentralization (p. 12).

To test the assertion about who comprises the elite, to lay the groundwork for a test of Nugent’s statement that the same figures held dominant positions in the period after decentralization, and to work toward a better understanding of local government in Ghana under the decentralized system, empirical longitudinal studies focusing on patterns of influence and wealth at the local level are needed. The paucity of case studies from earlier periods, however, makes longitudinal study at the local level impossible for many areas of the country. Where such earlier information does exist, it can be valuable as a baseline for determining whether change has occurred and for assessing the patterns.

My earlier fieldwork in the Krachi District in the northern part of the Volta Region can be useful for this purpose. Over a period of more than 12 months in 1968-69 and brief follow-up visits in 1973 and 1974, my research resulted in analysis of socioeconomic and demographic changes caused by the creation of the Volta dam and lake and the consequent resettlement of the population of Kete-Krachi town and neighboring villages (Barrington 1972; 1976). Kete-Krachi had been an important center for long-distance trade, two colonial governments, Ghanaian district government, traditional religious pilgrimage, and Islamic study since at least the 19th century (Dickson 1969; Ferguson 1973; Levtzion 1968; Maier 1983). After creation of the new lake in the 1960s, the town found itself no longer on main transportation routes but designated for future development as a lake port. Previously unpublished data from my fieldwork identify a group of people whom the respondents from a random stratified sample of Kete-Krachi residents in 1969 considered the most influential and wealthy people in that small urban community. Interviews with a number of those individuals yielded a picture of some of the characteristics, behavior, knowledge, and attitudes of that elite group. This research note will report on some of that data in hopes that such an analysis can be used in the future for comparison with post-decentralization data from that important but seldom-studied northern part of the Volta Region.

Composition of the elite

A 5 percent random sample of the 1969 adult population, stratified according to sex, education, occupation, and ethnic group, totaled 96 people. Eighty of them were located and interviewed, most of the other 16 having moved away during the period of some six months between being enumerated and selected. The 80 respondents were asked who they thought were "the four people in this town who have the most say in the affairs of the town" and the four who were "the wealthiest people in Kete-Krachi." Eighteen said they did not know who had the most say, but 62 respondents mentioned 32 people by either name or title as influential. Fewer were willing to answer the question about wealth: 48 said they did not know, four others said no one in town was rich, and the other 28 respondents mentioned 30 people by either name or title as wealthy.

Only 9 people showed up on both the influential and the wealthy lists; therefore, a total of 53 individuals, including traditional Krachi and Moslem office-holders, traders, transport owners, central government and local council officers, religious and educational leaders, a farmer, a former central government official, a Volta River Authority employee, and relatives of several leading figures were named in one or both categories. Relatively large numbers of the town’s people perceived a very small core of these people as important. For example, 61 respondents, others by 31, 30, and 19, named 1 person as influential. Based on what I learned from local people during more than a year in Krachi, I added another person to the list of influential people. He was unemployed in 1969 but had held governmental office before the 1966 coup and three years later was still mentioned in most conversations around town as one of the area’s major decision-makers.

Description of Krachi Individuals Number of respondents who named him/her as influential Number of respondents who named him/her as wealthy
Individuals (9) named by 10 or more respondents either as wealthy or influential:
Traditional Krachi official
61
2
Traditional Moslem official
31
0
Central government official
30
1
Moslem religious leader
19
0
Trader 1 13
Trader 0 12
Trader 0 11
Local Government Official 12 0
Central Government Official 10 1
Individuals (9) named by 5 but less than 10 respondents either as wealthy or influential:
Moslem religious leader 9 0
Trader 0 8
Trader 2 7
Trader 3 6
Krachi traditional official 6 0
Moslem religious leader 5 0
Transport Owner 5 0
Trader 1 5
Local Council Official 1 4
Individuals (14) named by 2, 3, or 4 respondents either as wealthy or influential:
Krachi traditional official 4 0
Krachi religious leader 3 0
Krachi traditional official 3 0
Central government official 3 1
Central government official 3 0
Trader 0 3
Trader 0 2
Farmer 0 2
Krachi traditional official 2 0
Central government official 2 0
Central government official 2 0
Moslem traditional official 2 0
Trader 0 2
Trader 0 2

Only one respondent each mentioned the remaining 21, the largest cluster of who were engaged in trade. In general, those named as most influential were not the same people as those believed to be wealthy. Traditional officials and religious leaders along with officers of the central and local governments predominated among the influential people, while traders were those mentioned most often as wealthy. One person each from the top levels of the Krachi people, the Muslim community, and the central government were by far the three most frequently mentioned individuals.

Characteristics of the elite

It was possible to interview 5 of the 9 most-frequently mentioned people, another 7 in the next most-frequently mentioned group of 9, and an additional 5 from lower on the list, totaling 17 respondents (see footnote 1). Six of the 17 were traders, 4 held traditional office, 3 were government employees (2 with the central/regional government and 1 with local government), 2 were farmers, 1 was a religious teacher, and 1 was unemployed. (Some had multiple occupational roles — e.g., a traditional official who was also engaged in trade, a trader who owned a lorry, a farmer who was also a trader — but the role mentioned here was the person’s primary one as perceived in town.) This list is in basic agreement with Crook and Manor’s general statements about the composition of small town elites, with the exception of the traditional officials in Kete-Krachi.

Following is a summary of certain other characteristics, behavior, knowledge, and attitudes of these 17 influential and/or wealthy people.

Gender: 13 male, 4 female.

Age: Range from 27 to 76, with a median age of 45 years and mean of 48.5.

Ethnicity: 5 of the 17 were Krachi and 1 from a related group (Atwode), 4 Hausa, 3 Ewe, 2 Gonja, 1 Yoruba, and 1 of German paternity.

Birthplace: 12 of the 17 were born in either Kete-Krachi town or Krachi villages. 3 were born in areas of Ghana to the south of Krachi, 1 to the north of Krachi, and 1 in Nigeria.

Hometown: 7 of the 17 considered some place within the Krachi District as their hometowns. 5 called some other Ghanaian locations their hometowns. 5 named places in Nigeria as "home."

Religion: 9 of the 17 were Christian, 7 were Muslim, and 1 was involved solely with a traditional religion.

Education: 9 of the 17 had no formal education, 3 had primary or middle school education, and 5 had education at secondary school or higher.

Social mobility:

(a) Religion: 11 respondents observed the same religions as their fathers (7 Muslim, 3 Christian, and 1 in a traditional religion). 6 Christian respondents had fathers who observed only traditional religions.

(b) Education: in 9 cases, neither the respondent nor the father had any schooling. In 3 cases, both had some schooling. 5 respondents with some formal education ranging from primary school to university had fathers with no schooling.

(c) Language: Asked whether they could understand four languages (Twi, Hausa, Ewe, and English) which were important in the town when they heard them spoken, 3 of the 17 respondents said they could understand all four, 5 understood Twi, Hausa, and English, 4 understood Twi and Hausa, and 2 understood Twi, Ewe, and English. One each understood only Twi, Ewe, or Hausa. Totaling the languages separately, 16 of the 17 respondents understood Twi, 13 understood Hausa, 11 understood English, and 6 understood Ewe.

(d) Travels: All 17 had been to important urban centers — south to Accra, southwest to Kumasi, and northwest to Tamale, from once to hundreds of times. 16 of the 17 had also been to the regional capital at Ho, to the southeast. 11 had visited other countries, including Togo (7), Nigeria (4), Great Britain (3), Benin (2), Burkina Faso (2), and one each to Egypt, Belgium, and Poland.

(e) Media: 12 of the 17 listened to radio news daily and another 3 at least weekly. 6 read the newspaper daily or had someone read news to them, and another 5 did so at least weekly.

(f) Knowledge of Government: All 17 could identify at least one member of the ruling NLC government by name. 13 could also name leaders of other African nations. 7 could, in addition, name leaders of Great Britain and/or China.

(g) Attitude toward Government: Asked which government (traditional Krachi, German, British, Nkrumah, or NLC) "has done the most for the people who live in Kete-Krachi?", all 17 of the respondents named one or the other colonial government: 11 said the British and the other 6 said the Germans. Asked which government had done "the next most," equal numbers (4 each) named the British, the Germans, Nkrumah, and the NLC. Nine of the 17 did not name any traditional or independent Ghanaian government as having done either "most" or "next most" for Kete-Krachi.

(h) Future plans: 14 of the 17 said they intended to remain in Kete-Krachi for at least next five years or would probably remain. The other 3 said they planned to move away.

Site preference: The commitment to the resettlement town does not mean that the respondents liked the location of the town. Asked where they thought the new town should have been built, occupational and ethnic roles seemed to determine their preferences:

Only 5 respondents thought the existing site at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the new lake and very near the now-inundated old town was best: 3 of them were Krachi and the other 2 cited the port location as crucial to the town’s future.

2 others (both Krachi) preferred a Krachi royal village where farmland would have been somewhat more plentiful.

The other 9 who responded preferred 2 locations not as isolated from trade routes as the Kete-Krachi resettlement site. 1 preferred a place convenient to an existing north-south road and an east-west ferry crossing; and the other preferred an area that was less developed but slated for an improved north-south road with potential as a trade route and plentiful land which could be opened up for farming. 5 of these 9 respondents were among the most prosperous traders and 2 others were Muslim men closely associated with the trading community; the other 2 were central/regional government officials.

In looking at the leaders’ attitudes and opinions, it is important to note that these interviews were conducted in 1969. This was five years after the very difficult relocation from old Kete-Krachi to the new settlement town built by the Volta River Authority. It was also three years after the coup that overthrew the Nkrumah government, and during the period leading up to election of a new government and the expulsion of certain foreign-born people.

The characteristics of this elite group in 1969 reflect the town’s complex history: people from the various important occupational, ethnic, and religious sectors, as well as birthplace and hometown locations, were among those named as influential or wealthy. The languages they understood, their travels, attention to the media, knowledge of governmental leaders, and openness in giving their opinions about the resettlement site and recent governments attest to their involvement in public matters and the cosmopolitan and sophisticated nature of this small-town elite.

Other characteristics and attitudes demonstrate that this was a heterogeneous elite: a larger number who had long identification with and lasting commitment to the town versus a few who saw themselves as only temporary participants in the affairs of Kete-Krachi. Another important division was between those who defined the town as a center for trade and those who thought of Kete-Krachi in terms of their farming interests or ethnic origins. Most of these elite respondents were similar to their fathers in religion and education, but a sizable number of them had been socially mobile. The 1969 data provides a baseline for longitudinal study of the local elite in Kete-Krachi. New research in this Volta Region town, allowing comparison to the results of the recent Joromo, East Akim, and East Mamprusi case studies, would be expected to contribute significantly to understanding the decentralization process.

________________

[(1) footnote]: although these 17 interviews were not of a random sample of the influential and wealthy people of the whole town, readers can assess how representative these leaders were in a general way by comparing the figures reported here to data on the population of Kete-Krachi or of the random sample as reported in Barrington 1972 and 1976.


References

Joseph R.A. Ayee, An Anatomy of Public Policy Implementation, Brookfield, Ashgate Publishing Company, 1994.

Leo Barrington, "Migration and the Growth of a Resettlement Community: Kete-Krachi, Ghana, 1962 and 1969," Boston University Ph.D. in sociology, 1972.

Leo Barrington, "Population Change in a Small Urban Community: The Contrasting Effects of Urbanization and Resettlement," pp. 36-48, Ghana Social Science Journal Vol. 3 No. 2, November 1976.

Richard C. Crook and James Manor, Democracy and Decentralization in South Asia and West Africa: Participation, Accountability and Performance, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Cyril K. Daddieh, "Democratization and the Grassroots: The Case of Jomoro District Assembly," in Valentine Udoh James (ed.), Capacity Building in Developing Countries: Human and Environmental Dimensions, Westport, Greenwood, 1998.

Kwamina B. Dickson, A Historical Geography of Ghana, London, Cambridge University Press, 1969.

Douglas Edward Ferguson, "Nineteenth Century Hausaland being a Description by Imam Imoru of the Land , Economy, and Society of His People," UCLA, Ph.D. in History, 1973.

Nehemia Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa, London, Oxford University Press, 1968.

Donna J. E. Maier, Priests and Power: The Case of the Dente Shrine in Nineteenth-Century Ghana, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1983.

Paul Nugent, Big Men, Small Boys and Politics in Ghana: Power, Ideology and the Burden of History, 1982-1994, London, Pinter, 1995.


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