TRADITIONAL CHIEFTAINCY AS POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE STATES OF WEST AFRICA

Open Access

Abstract

The African continent has undergone a long process of social reorganization and today, in its socio-political structure, it differs little from other continents. West Africa is an excellent example of these changes. It is therefore important to underline the enormous role that traditional leaders have played and continue to play in Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Nigeria and Ghana. Before the colonial period, the West African states were powerful empires whose social and political systems played an important role until today. Among them are the empire of Ghana, Mali, Sonrhai, Wassoulou, the kingdom of Liptako and Kénédougou. Despite their decline, African societies have been able to retain some forms of pre-colonial organizations. Thus, at the end of the colonization and emergence of modern states in Africa, we find structures rooted in popular cultures and traditional diplomacy greatly contributes to conflict resolution. This traditional diplomacy plays a very important role for political stability and social balance in some countries like Burkina Faso. In this country, the institution of chieftaincy is often perceived as the unifying element of the Burkinabe nation. Ended, In most West African countries, there is a wide variety of chieftaincies. For example, in Burkina Faso, there are the Mossi kingdoms, the Soninke principality of Ouahabou, the principality of Barani, the kingdom of Liptako. In Ghana there are the kingdoms Akan, Eve, Gan, Gurma, Adangbe. The main objective of this study is to highlight the existence of these kingdoms in West Africa, in order to determine the influence of the traditional chiefdoms of the pre-colonial period on the modern economic, social, political and cultural life of these countries. Key words: Chiefdom, traditional, Kingdom, Africa, West Africa.