Commemorating the chief: the politics of postage stamps in West Africa.

The images on postage stamps are not chosen at random; in fact, since the issuing of postage stamps remains the monopoly of the central government in every country in Africa, the choice of many images, especially those depicting chiefs and other royal personages, is politically motivated. The circumstances surrounding the issuing of commemorative postage stamps depicting chiefs in Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Guinea offer insight into these countries' histories, not just as it occurred, but as the government wishes it to be remembered, not only in choosing some chiefs to be commemorated, but also in overlooking others. A few scholars have pointed out the usefulness of postage stamps as prime sources for historical research (Posnansky 2001; Reid 1984), but this recommendation has largely been ignored. My current research will, I hope, inspire many African scholars not only to lick stamps but also to see them as vital research sources. (1)

Postage stamps are public art, and public art in general "embodies the beliefs and aspirations of its patron" (Hung 2001:457-73), in this case governments. Stamps are handy because, as cultural productions, they are politically expedient and very cheap--they satisfy current political needs. Likewise, chieftaincy is a very important cultural and political institution in Africa and political leaders are not oblivious to its functions and its hold on the communities where it exists. Thus, throughout the colonial and postcolonial period of Africa's history, chiefs have been allies or opponents of successive central governments.

One cannot study chiefs on postage stamps, therefore, without considering their relevance to culture and power. This assertion moves the study of postage stamps into the realm of public history, where the histories of certain chiefs and individuals were appropriated by the state and rewritten to become symbols of resistance against colonial rule. The images represented on the stamps convey the symbolic image of the master narrative of the ruling elite with the hope that the masses of the people will rally behind these narratives and thereby suppress alternative interpretations of history. In order to have a complete appreciation of the politics of representing certain chiefs on stamps and ignoring others, one has to comprehend the symbolic value of the postage stamp as a preeminent tool of government propaganda showing the metamorphosis of a historical event into an object worthy of remembrance and ultimate commemoration.

Over the years, the images on stamps have become the medium for transmission of propagandist messages about the country of issue to its citizens and the rest of the world (Dobson 2002, Jones 2001, Scott 1992). T. H. Qualter defined propaganda as "the deliberate attempt by some individual or group to form, control, or alter the attitudes of other groups by the use of the instruments of communication, with the intention that in any given situation the reaction of those so influenced will be that desired by the propagandists" (Qualter 1962:27).

Colonial Stamps

French colonial stamps featured a diverse set of themes, including allegorical figures and a combination of French explorers, conquerors, and administrators Later series depicted African scenes as imagined by French artists, advised by colonial officials, who depicted flora and fauna, economic resources, public works, ethnic types, women, architectures, and so on. In contrast, British stamps tended to feature the bust of the reigning monarch; even after 1928, when various scenes of West Africa were included with the royal portrait, these images were usually overshadowed by the royal bust (Fig. 1; Gold Coast Scott 115-22). The British thus established the convention of showing the monarch on postage stamps.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The only postage stamp that depicted an African chief in the colonial period in West Africa was that of the Mossi chief Moro Naba Sagha (Fig. 2; French West Africa Scott 84) (3) of the former French colony of Upper Volta (Burkina Faso). It was a commemorative issue in 1957 for the tenth anniversary of the founding of Upper Volta.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

This unique honor was not fortuitous and must be understood in the context of political events in Upper Volta in the late 1950s. After World War II, the agitation for independence led by various political parties intensified in all colonies of the world. In French West Africa, the dominant political party was the Ressemblement Democratique Africain (RDA), which had representatives in all the colonies. The French plantation owners in Upper Volta particularly despised the local branch of the RDA because it had associated itself with the French Communist Party (PCF). The plantation owners' influence was so powerful that they were able to have Albert-Jean Mouragues, a governor pliable to their desires, appointed to the territory with the intention of undermining the power of the RDA.

One of Mouragues' first acts as governor was to manipulate Moro Naba Sagha so that he would withdraw his support for the RDA. The king's annual salary was raised from 90,000 francs to 500,000 francs and he was given a new car and a truck with the promise to reconstitute Upper Volta as a constitutional monarchy. In addition, the French financed the construction of his palace, to the chagrin of the other chiefs in the territory. In 1953 he was invited with a retinue of six people to Paris, and his son and successor, Moro Naaba Kougri, was later accorded the same privilege. Although Moro Naba Sagha was successful in dividing the Mossi into two opposing groups--the traditionalists (for the chief) and the modernists (against the chief)--his attempts to form a constitutional monarchy failed (Duperray 1992). Thus, the issuing of the postage stamp portraying Moro Naba Sagha in 1957 was one more attempt by the French to buy the influence of the Mossi chief in order to perpetuate colonial rule.

Postcolonial Postage Stamps

The leaders of the independence movement in Africa were not oblivious to the postal tradition of honoring and commemorating national figures and economic and cultural ideals. If imperialists portrayed conquerors and explorers, then independent leaders reversed this order by representing their heroes and martyrs. This is entirely in line with the use of popular images to legitimize power. If one doubts the importance of these small images and their impact, one has only to examine postage stamps of Africa issued immediately after independence. They all carried busts of the first presidents or prime ministers. This was very important because for many of these new rulers, a new era had arrived and a new monarchy, emulating the British, had replaced the old ones in the liberated states. (4)

It was also incumbent on the postindependence rulers to transform themselves into "kings" to legitimize themselves in the rivalry between the elitist nationalists and the traditional rulers in the struggle for independence in West Africa. The appearance of the new leaders on stamps was not a mere coincidence. It was a deliberate and calculated attempt to associate their leadership wire legitimate monarchs. Royal identity was crucial for some African leaders because, traditionally, one could rule only if one inherited the throne or was a descendant of the royal family. Unfortunately, many of the leaders of the independence movement had no links to royal families, and since chiefs were not elected, they had to legitimize their authority by imitating chiefs through other means, as seen in the stamps featuring busts of Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana (Fig. 3; Ghana Scott 1), President Olympio of Togo (Fig. 4; Togo Scott 376), and President Sekou Toure of Guinea (Fig. 5; Guinea Scott 170).

[FIGURES 3-5 OMITTED]

Aside from portraying themselves as legitimate princes, the postindependence leaders endeavored to accommodate some traditional chiefs and their constituencies by appealing to the nationalist achievements of their ancestors. The common denominator among the chiefs who were represented on stamps was their confrontation with colonialism, which usually ended in their defeat, imprisonment, exile, and subsequent return, whether dead or alive. Thus, the historical memories of these "nationalists" were linked by colonial violence--violence that was inflicted on these royal individuals by European colonists. The particular experiences of such people were revisited to become part of the national historical narrative, which needs to be remembered and commemorated.

The representations of such chiefs were transformed, therefore, into public art. W. J. T. Mitchell has argued that "public art has served as a kind of monumentalizing of violence and never more powerfully than when it represents the conqueror as a man of peace ..." (Mitchell 1994:378). I will go further, to argue that public art can be ambivalent, as in the case of the representation of "nationalist" chiefs on postage stamps in West Africa. The designated nationalists were both victims and aggressors: victims of European colonizing forces and at the same time aggressors against other African peoples. Nonetheless, the master narratives and their accompanying memorialization and commemoration completely obliterate the other memories of acrimonious and oppressive relationships between the acclaimed nationalist chiefs and the "other" peoples within the multiethnic nations, thereby restricting the prerequisite to obtain national status to colonial violence.

"Nationalist" Chiefs in Guinea and Benin

I will illustrate my point by first looking at the set of postindependence stamps on African Heroes and Martyrs from Guinea of the late president Ahmed Sekou Toure (Guinea Scott 258-62). It is essential, however, to first review a little history of Sekou Toure himself. His first civil service job was at the post office as a clerk, so he naturally saw the value of images on stamps. The stamps were issued in 1962, when the people of Guinea were facing real economic difficulties and Sekou Toure's leadership within the ruling party was threatened. It was opportune at this moment to instill nationalist sentiments among Guineans by recalling his ancestral links to his great-grandfather Almany Samori Toure (Kake 1987; Fig. 6; Guinea Scott 261). (5) Almany Samori Toure was a leader of the Malinke kingdom who fought a protracted battle against French occupation of his kingdom until his final capture at Bondoukou in 1898. He was deported to Gabon, where he died two years later. Sekou Toure was said to have exploited his ancestry to Samori during the struggle for independence from the French. The propaganda at the time was that the famous oracle at Kankan had predicted that a descendant of Samori Toure would revenge his defeat in the hands of the French. (6)

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

Samori Toure thus had earned his martyrdom, but the other narrative that is repressed by the official account is the historical account of Samori Toure prior to his battles with the French. Likewise the official record is silent on the organization of Samori's kingdom, his trade in slaves, gold, and arms with the French and British, and his politics, as well as his wars of conquest in the territory under his control, which covered parts of the region of what is today Mall, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire. The question, therefore, is how would these "other" peoples perceive the martyrdom of Samori Toure within the new nation of Guinea?

Perhaps the history of next hero, BaBemba (1855-98), king of Kenegedougou-Sikasso in Mali (Fig. 7; Guinea Scott 260), could have provided a counternarrative to Samori Toure if his official story had not been narrated in an anti-imperialist rhetoric. BaBemba was said to have resisted Samori's siege against his kingdom for sixteen months. Likewise, he resisted the French until he committed suicide in 1898, preferring death to capture at the hands of the French (Imperato 1986).

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

The other Guinean chiefs earned their place on the stamps through the ill-treatment they received from the French. Alfa Yaya (1850-1912; Fig. 8; Guinea Scott 258A29) was the chief of the Labe in the Fouta-Djalon but had a rather dubious history. He was a fervent ally of the French until his fortunes were reversed when a new governor was appointed to Guinea due to French internal politics. The new governor, Antoine Marie Auguste Frezouls, in an attempt to enhance his own position and discredit the achievements of his predecessor, invited Alfa Yaya to Conakry in 1905. The latter, thinking that it was an official visit, made the several weeks journey with his retinue and guards only to be arrested on his arrival and deported to Dahomey. His son Modi-Aguibu suffered the same fate, but both of them were allowed to return to Guinea five years later. Alfa Yaya had hoped that he would be restored to power but he was later accused of holding "secret and mysterious" meetings and was arrested again and jailed at Port-Etienne, where he died the following year. (7) So a French ally who had become a victim of his former master's treachery was now elevated to hero status.

[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]

The next victim of French imperial duplicity in Guinea was Tierno Aliou (1820-1912; Fig. 9; Guinea Scott 262). He was a famous marabout (religious leader) with a large following who, at the age of eighty, was arrested in an alleged Islamic plot against the French in the village of Goumba. Before his arrest he was said to be a pliant French supporter and even diffused tension among his followers, who anticipated the return of the Mahdi to end taxation by the French. Despite attempts by his followers to prevent his arrest and his escape to Sierra Leone, the British extradited him to Guinea, where he died in prison in 1912 (Suret-Canale 1988).

[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]

Aside from BaBemba, the other foreign royalty who made Sekou Toure's postage stamp pantheon of African heroes was Behanzin (1844-1906; Fig. 10; Guinea Scott 259), king of Dahomey. He fought against the French invasion of his kingdom but lost the war and was deported to the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1894. Behanzin and Samori Toure are two African chiefs to appear on postage stamps of two countries, but under curious circumstances. Behanzin, who appeared first in Guinea in 1962, did not appear in Benin (formerly Dahomey) until 1980. Even then, he was preceded two years earlier on Benin postage stamps by Samori Toure and El Hadj Omar (8) (Figs. 11 and 12; Benin Scott 394-5), who were recognized as two African heroes who had resisted colonialism. In order to understand the initial neglect of Behanzin, one has to follow the first two decades of Benin's postindependence history.

[FIGURES 10-12 OMITTED]

Political division and instability in postindependence Dahomey explain the late recognition of Behanzin in his own country. There was intense ethnic rivalry between the three major political entities based on ethnic affiliations led by the triumvirate of Hubert Maga (north), Justin Ahomadegbe (center) and Sourou Migan Apithy (southeast). Each of these individuals commanded a considerable following in their respective regions of origin, thereby making it impossible for any one of them to obtain a majority vote. This problem was further complicated by the incessant interference of the army in the political process by arbitrarily making and unmaking presidents.

After several military coups, interspersed with civilian governments, the final coup in 1972, led by Col. Mathieu Kerekou (a northerner) brought a semblance of political stability. Kerekou changed the name of the country to Benin, a more neutral name than Dahomey, which was associated with the Fon people and their kingdom of Dahomey. Furthermore, Kerekou led Benin to join the rank of self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist states.

These moves and several attempts by his opponents to overthrow his government rallied the people behind him. The most serious attempt to overthrow Kerekou occurred in 1977, when a planeload of mercenaries landed at the airport but were routed by loyal forces. Kerekou blamed France as well as neocolonial African countries for the failed coup (Ronen 1984). Naturally, imperialism and neocolonialism became easy scapegoats for all Benin's social and economic problems. Kerekou and his government, therefore, needed to arouse the nationalist spirit of the Beninese people by evoking the names of acknowledged African nationalists such as Samori Toure and El Hadj Omar and surreptitiously omitting Behanzin due to ethnic suspicions of Fon complicity in the abortive coup.

Unfortunately, left-wing rhetoric failed to materialize economic prosperity for the Beninese people. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the people's patience was wearing out and Kerekou had to take some drastic actions to steer the country from its downward slide. He took steps to restore the credibility of his country by re-establishing normal relations with France and by releasing political prisoners. To placate the Fon people and further his nationalistic agenda, he honored Behanzin in 1979 with a giant statue at Abomey, followed in 1980 with Behanzin's representation on a postage stamp (Figs. 13 and 14; Benin Scott 448A). (22)

[FIGURES 13-14]

It is fascinating to note that, unlike Samori Toure and El Hadj Omar, who earned the appellation "Heroes of African Resistance Against Colonialism," Behanzin's statue and postage stamp had the text "I will never agree to sign any treaty susceptible to compromise the independence of the land of my ancestors." (9) The lukewarm appreciation of Behanzin was further illustrated by the price of the stamp, which was 1000cfa, a very steep price for the average Beninese. The subsequent cheaper stamps (Fig. 15; Benin Scott 621 and 636), issued in 1986, simply read "Buste du roi Behanzin" with no commentary about or reference to his confrontation with the French. These omissions were not by simple neglect; they were intentional. Kerekou's government was clearly aware of the ethnic sensibilities and the mixed history of the kingdom of Dahomey among the people of Benin. The oral traditions and written histories about the Dahomeyan onslaught on her neighbors was well entrenched in the memories of the citizens of the new Benin that Kerekou was trying to reconstruct. Nonetheless, Behanzin would not have earned a spot on the postage stamps of Benin had he not fought the French and been sent into exile.

[FIGURE 15 OMITTED]

Houphouet Boigny's Propaganda

If defeat and exile at the hands of colonialists defined nationalists and heroes in Guinea and Benin, it was propaganda pure and simple that characterized chiefs' stamps in the Cote d'Ivoire. The late president Houphouet Boigny of Cote d'Ivoire was legitimate royalty because his father had been a chief. His first stamp on chiefs appeared in 1968, showing Sacrifice of Queen Abla Pokou (Fig. 16; Ivory Coast Scott 272). Although one is eager to celebrate the only case of an African queen on stamps, the political undertones speak louder than the gender dynamics. Queen Abla Pokou's stamp was issued on the eighth anniversary of Cote d'Ivoire's independence, and so the legend of Abla Pokou had some relevance to the prevailing political situation. She was said to be the founder of the Baoule--the ethnic group of President Boigny. The legend has it that she left the Asante kingdom after a succession dispute on the death of King Osei Tutu in 1717. She led her followers westward until she reached the River Comoe, which was at its flood stage. In order to cross the river, she is alleged to have sacrificed her only son to the river to guarantee the safety of her followers. Hence, the name Baoule, which means "the child is dead." (10) Obviously, Boigny strategically exploited this image by transforming himself into another Baoule sacrificial lamb on the nation's eighth anniversary of independence. This representation resonated, furthermore, among the Christian community in southern Cote d'Ivoire by implicitly linking Queen Abla Pokou's sacrifice to that of the Virgin Mary offering her only son Jesus for the salvation of sinners; Boigny was the latter-day savior.

[FIGURE 16 OMITTED]

Some other postage stamps issued by Cote d'Ivoire pertinent to royalty are the Symbols of Akan Royal Family (Ivory Coast Scott C61) (11) and Abron Chief's Chair (Ivory Coast Scott 405). The others are the Enthronement of a Chief, Agni District (Ivory Coast Scott 800) and Royal Entourage (Ivory Coast Scott 801). These were tourist stamps that celebrated Akan royalty. The final stamp from Cote d'Ivoire belonged to Sekou Watara, King of Kong, 1710-1745 (Fig. 17; Ivory Coast Scott 877) from the north of Cote d'Ivoire. This stamp is quite peculiar because it has a map of the ancient Kong kingdom, whose boundaries stretch on from northern Cote d'Ivoire into Burkina Faso. Under the reign of Sekou Watara, the Kong kingdom was said to have had enjoyed an unprecedented economic prosperity and peace (Loucou 1984).

[FIGURE 17 OMITTED]

Why would Boigny (a southerner) issue a stamp of a northern king of the eighteenth century in 1989? The latter half of the 1980s were difficult years for all dictators around the world. The Soviet Union had imploded, the Berlin Wall had come tumbling down, and Africans were not indifferent to these winds of change. Cote d'Ivoire's benevolent dictator was under pressure for democratic reforms. The situation was further worsened by economic difficulties due to the fall in the world price of cocoa, the principal export crop of the country. The northern region of the country was worse off than the rest of the country because it was the least developed and was suffering from a severe drought.

Boigny took some unprecedented actions: he suspended payments on the country's international debt (Berthelemy and Bourguignon 1996) and for the first time was obliged to hold multiparty elections, which he won in 1990. In another first, he appointed a prime minister from the north in the person of Alassan Dramane Ouattara. (12) It is obvious that the government felt that the northern part of the country needed to be placated. With recent events in Cote d'Ivoire (the coup d'etat after the death of Houphouet Boigny, civil war leading to the demarcation of territory between northerners and southerners, ongoing negotiations to resolve the crisis between the New Forces who control the northern half of the country and the government of President Gbagbo in the south), one can only credit Boigny's foresight in his effort to draw northerners, who felt neglected, into the government to appropriately recognize a northern king, Sekou Watara.

Ghana: A Democratic Example

Last but not the least are three sets of royal postage stamps from Ghana. One set, Chief Sitting in State (Ghana Scott 1009A193) was meant to attract tourists because it was issued in collaboration with a set on Inter-Tourism, which included sites of interest to tourists such as forts, castles, and wildlife. However, the other two sets fall within the government propaganda model but are highly intriguing due to the implicit government pandering to electoral constituencies in contemporary political developments of the 1990s. The role of the Stamp Advisory Committee of Ghana, according to its policy guidelines, is to bring out issues that portray aspects of Ghanaian heritage, life, culture, achievements, and arts as well as commemorate important international and local events (Philatelic Department Policy Guidelines, n.d.).

However, the first time that a royal stamp was issued in the postindependence era was in 1995, to commemorate the silver jubilee (1970-1995) of the Asantehene (king of Asante), Otumfuo Opoku Ware II. The set of seven (Ghana Scott 1828-34) comprised two portraits of the Asantehene (Fig. 18), the symbol of Asante kingdom (Fig. 19), a silver casket (Fig. 20), two sword bearers (Figs. 21a-b), and finally the golden stool (Fig. 22).

[FIGURES 18-22 OMITTED]

It would have been absolutely impossible to issue a postage stamp of an Asante king during the initial years of Ghana's independence. Not only was there only one chief in "town," in the person of the president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, but also the National Liberation Movement (NLM), the opposition party to Nkrumah's Convention People's Party (CPP), was predominantly Asante. The bitter rivalries between the two parties left a trail of bloodshed, detention, imprisonment, and exile between the two camps (Awoonor 1990). However, under the new democratic dispensation in the 1990s, numbers were very important, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was also faced with Asante opposition under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), an offshoot of NLM. Thus, in an attempt to appeal for the support of the Asante, the silver jubilee celebration became a national affair that was commemorated on stamps.

One should not forget, however, that the ghost of Asante kingdom's past continue to influence Ghana's history in many forms. Many coastal Ghanaian peoples like the Fante, Ga, and Ewe have not forgotten Asante violence against them, even though the national history textbooks celebrate Asante resistance against the British. Thus, to a large extent many other ethnic groups resent Asante dominance in Ghana. It was not surprising when, two years after the Asantehene's postage stamps, the next royal issue honored King Tackie Tawiah I (1862-1902; Fig. 23; Ghana Scott 2055) (13) of the Ga-Dangme people. The stamp was issued during the centenary celebration of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in 1997. King Tackle Tawiah was said to have been one of the most astute and progressive leaders of the Ga-Dangme people, especially remembered for having defeated the Asante armies. Although King Tawiah I also tasted prison under colonialism, the Ga-Dangme people consider this a footnote in their history and would rather express their nationalist sentiments in terms of resistance against Asante hegemony (Cooper 2002). (14)

[FIGURE 23 OMITTED]

In promoting a Ga-Dangme chief, one could say that the government was providing a counterbalance to Asante influence in Ghana, but at the same time I will attribute these developments to the growth of democracy since the 1990s. Public history debates are now possible where people could claim their own history. I would not be surprised to see several more chiefs appearing on Ghana's postage stamps as the voiceless now write or tell their own histories. Free and fair debates and discussions of public history are the dividends of democracy and the signs of a healthy nation.

Conclusion

I have tried to demonstrate that stamps provide a perceptive insight into the contemporary political and social history of the nations in West Africa. They are very important images for propaganda. Chiefs on stamps are a means for governments to influence public opinion at the national and global levels. Although nationalism was the predominant motivation for using these images, I noticed that the selection of nationalist chiefs was limited to the colonial encounter and the elimination of other chiefs. However, with more democratic developments in these countries and a spirited debate in the public sphere, I predict that the minority chiefs who have been silenced will demand recognition in the near future.

[This article was accepted for publication in December 2003.]

(1.) I am grateful to Dr. Ate Quayson for insisting that I seriously examine postage stamps, as they should have some bearing on chieftaincy studies. I also would like to thank Prof. Merrick Posnansky for his ideas and, more importantly, for finding those rare stamps showing chiefs from dealers all over the world. Likewise, my thanks to Prof. John Freed for his comments and suggestions. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the conference on "Chieftaincy in Africa: Culture, Governance, and Development," Accra, Ghana, in January, 2003. I would also like to thank Ebenezar Olebu Mensah (premier stamp designer for Ghana Postal Company) and Peter Tagoe (philatelic agent, Ghana Postal Company) for their invaluable insight and assistance.

(2.) It was agreed by Universal Postal Union convention that England would be the only country to use the bust of the queen to represent the country on its postage stamps. The first British colonial stamp was issued in 1847 on Mauritius Island but the first stamp on the continent of Africa was the stamp of Cape of Good Hope in 1855.

(3.) Earlier, in 1955, a stamp was issued in the Upper Volta with the text "Mossi Railway" (French West Africa Scott 65). Later, in 1980, a set of three stamps was issued depicting Gourmantche Chief Initiation; Moro Naba, Mossi Emperor; and Princess Guimbe Ouattara (Burkina Faso Scott 541-3).

(4.) It is ironic, however, to remark that over 99% of those postindependence leaders who put their images on postage stamps were either overthrown in military coups or were forced to quit the government.

(5.) Many opponents of Sekou Toure allege that his claims to Samori Toure are dubious, but Kake's (1987) research has proved that he was indeed a great-grandchild of Samori Toure.

(6.) It was the same oracle that allegedly predicted Nkrumah's victory over the British in the Gold Coast.

(7.) See Suret-Canale 1988 for a detailed debate on the European opinions of Samori Toure; however, one should be cognizant of the fact that European colonizers persistently demonized any African leader that resisted their conquest.

(8.) El Hadj Omar was head of the Tukulor empire in the mid-nineteenth century, waging wars against perceived infidels and encouraging his followers to fight the French along the coast. Although he was unable to defeat the French, he signed a treaty with them, which left him tree to attack other non-Muslim states.

(9.) The giant statue was made in North Korea. it was inaugurated on April 9, 1979, in Abomey with an anti-imperialist speech given by Kerekou. The text at the foot of the statue, placed mainly for local pride, reads "Je n'accepterai jamais de signer aucun traite susceptible d'aliener l'independance de la terre de mes aieux."

(10.) Thanks to Christelle Debrimou for the information on the legend of Queen Abla Pokou. For the historical reference, see Boahen 1992.

(11.) Note that the Baule, Abron, and Agni belong to the Akan language group.

(12.) Did Houphouet Boigny appoint him to repeat the miracle of his ancestor? This is pure conjecture because I have not come across any document that justifies this assertion but since he is from the north, I would not be surprised if Ouattara was not a descendant of King Sekou Watara (note that the spelling alternates between English and French). It is also public knowledge that a certain segment of the Ivoirian population claims that Ouatara is from Burkina Faso whereas his supporters think otherwise. If he is related to King Sekou Ouatara, whose kingdom saddles both countries, then he might as well claim the nationality of both countries.

(13.) Mr. E.O. Mensah, who has been designing Ghana stamps for almost four decades, designed this stamp and those of the Asantehene's silver jubilee. He is indeed a great artist, one of the best in Ghana but yet to be recognized.

14. Current political developments in Ghana only reinforce this assertion. King Tackie Tawiah now has a giant statue in central Accra and a major overpass named after him.

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