Roots of Ghana’s psychology: Akan tradition

Origins of the Akan people of Ghana are believed, by tradition, to have begun in areas such as Israel, Egypt, Sudan, and the ancient Ghana Empire that flourished around the 11th Century.

Akan people are deemed to have migrated from those areas and moved southwards to their present-day locations between the 11th and 12th Centuries.

In his research, Dr JB Danquah, doyen of Ghanaian politics and author of Akan Doctrine of God (1968), found that Akan people and other Ghanaian tribes were citizens of the ancient Ghana Empire.

Hence, his adopted suggestion that the name, Gold Coast, should be changed to Ghana.
When they arrived in what became the Gold Coast, a notable area that the Akan people had settled was Bono in the former Brong-Ahafo Region. 

From Bono, it is believed that the Akan tribes separated and spread southward and eastward to establish what have become Akuapem, Asante, Abron, Kwahu, Akwamu, Fante and Nzema kingdoms.

The Asante and Brong-Ahafo peoples settled in the West-Central parts of the country and the Nzema and Fante tribes moved towards the coastal south.

Other tribes, including the Akuapem, Kwahu, and Akwamu moved up to the Akuapem hills and settled there until today.

As in earlier articles of the Roots of Ghana’s Psychology series, my intention in this article is to use the history of the Akan people to determine what their psychology is.

Historical accounts of a people, their behaviours, tradition and religion can give a clue as to what the mindset of the people is.

History is said to be ‘’a branch of knowledge dealing with past events – political, social and economic -- of a country, continent or the world.”
Tradition is “a belief, custom or a way of doing something that has existed for a long time among a particular group of a people; a set of these beliefs and customs.”

Psychology is ‘’the scientific study of the mind and how it influences behaviour; and a kind of mind that somebody has that makes them think and behave in a particular way.”

A people’s religion is the fountainhead of their tradition, customs, beliefs and their psychology.
Religion, according to Prof John S Mbiti, is the belief in the existence of a God and gods and the activities that are connected with the worship of them”.
In his book, An introduction to African religion (1975), Prof Mbiti, who was a former Professor of Religious Studies at Makarere University in Uganda, wrote that African religion exists in five parts – beliefs; practices; ceremonies and festivals; religious objects and places; values and morals, and religious officials or leaders.

On beliefs, he stated that “these are essential parts of any religion. They show how people think about the universe and their attitude towards life itself”.
“African religious beliefs are concerned with topics such as God, spirits, human life, magic, the hereafter and so on.”

On morals, Prof Mbiti wrote, “this is the part of religion which deals with the ideas that safeguard or uphold the life of the people in their relationship with one another in the world around them.

“Values and morals cover topics such as truth, justice, love, right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and decency, respect for people and property, the keeping of promises and agreement, praise and blame, crime and punishment, the rights and responsibilities of both the individual and the community, character, integrity and so on.”

What has religion to do with psychology?
Why do people study and practise religion?
A people adopt and practice religion by submitting to a supernatural power or spirit for protection from their spiritual or material enemies.

Practice of a religion can help to elevate a people’s consciousness, upgrade their thinking and mindset and improve their physical wellbeing.

Invariably, deities from whom the spiritual, mental and physical help are sought demand that their adherents bind themselves to, and observe a set of moral or ethical rules or code of conduct as a condition.  

Persons with high spirits do not love to do business with persons with poor or low intelligence and emotional quotients.  Why?  Those spirits occupy very high electro-magnetic regions of creation, with God Omnipotent, as the spirit with highest force or energy. 

Like the Ewe and Ga-Dangme tribes of Ghana, the Akan tribes believe in the Omnipotent God, variously known as Onyame, Nyame, or Odomakoma.

They also believe in the lesser gods, the elemental spirits, such as gods of the sun, sea, sky, wind, fire, iron, rain and thunder.

The Akan people also believe in and worship spirits of rivers, mountains, hills and big or historical trees and sacred places.
They know and use many attributes of Onyame, also known as Twereduapon (Seat of Wisdom). 

He is known as Amosu (Giver of Rain); Amowia (Giver of Sun), and Amomee (Giver of Plenty).
Almighty God, Odomakoma, is also regarded as the creator, preserver, protector, renovator and the one who sustains the universe.

Some of the attributes or characters of God are Aboadi-Nyankopong (Creator of the universe), Ananse Kokroko; Nyame Kese; Onyakropon Kwame; Osagyefo-Nyame Kese; Otumfuo-Nyame; Okatakyi-Nyame; Nyame Bonsu; Nyame Okropon and Nyame Kukrudu.