Presente los planes de prevención y respuesta a las emergencias ambientales que puedan presentarse en las distintas etapas.

To say that the Akan people are religious is obviously an understatement. This is because life to them is religion and religion is life. If culture is defined simply as a way of life of a people then for the Akan people of Ghana religion is culture itself. Sarpong underscores the central role of religion that permeates life “... from cradle to grave, and there are important religious rituals, which mark the three most important stages of his life: birth, adulthood, and death” (Sarpong, 1974: Epilogue). Speaking about Africans in general, Ukpong agrees with Sarpong that religion is life in his statement that:

“Traditionally, for the African, religion is not merely a matter of going to church or observing a set of principles; it is a way of life that permeates all spheres and levels of living. One seeks material well-being, like healing, as well as spiritual well being, like forgiveness of sin, within the religious context.” (Ukpong, 1984:11)

Religion, then, is the centre of life, the soul of the culture, the pivot around which all aspects of the culture revolve. All aspects of life-belief systems, activities, habits and behaviours- are viewed and interpreted through the eye of religion. Indeed, it is hardly possible to talk about African culture without talking about religion and vice versa. It is in view of this Opoku observes:

“The phenomenon of religion is so pervasive in the life of the Akan, and so inextricably bound up with their culture, that it is not easy to isolate what is purely religious from other aspects of life. It may be said without fear of exaggeration that life in the Akan world is religion and religion is life.” (Opoku, 1974:286)

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Speaking about the inseparable ties between religion and culture of the Zulu tribe of South African, Tanner also strikingly makes an observation which reinforces Opoku’s statement that:

“…the practitioners of African traditional religions do not look upon their religious beliefs and practices as a distinct set of activities separated from economic or other ones, nor are they defined as the religions of Yoruba, Zulu or Kamba peoples as if they were national churches. An old traditionalist on being asked his religion would reply ‘I am a Zulu’ or whatever.” (Tanner, 1993:378)

The observations of Opoku (1993) and Tanner (1993) are not unnoticed by Baudin (1985) who never hides his fascination of the indissolubility of culture-religion linkage when he observes that:

“the religious and political systems, the ceremonies of worship, and the domestic customs of the African people are so intimately connected one with the other that a knowledge of their religion is indispensable to the understanding of their history and their national organization, and above all to the effectual work of their evangelisation.” (Baudin, 1885:6)

Baudin’s comment is to be understood in the light of his vocation as a devout Christian missionary to African people. His comment, though genuine and appropriate, comes in the wake of his frustration in the face of the inadequacies of missionary enterprise and is much more an indictment of the puritan attitude adopted by the missionary churches than a candid observation. The remarks of Opoku (1974), Tanner (1993) and even Baudin (1885) on the inseparable union between religion and culture reinforce Kato’s description of religion as “...the heart of culture.” Just as the heart is indispensable to the human body so religion is to the culture. In this way, Kato, actually, accords religion its rightful place as the lifewire, the backbone of culture to the extent of saying that “...any change in religion will inevitably necessitate a re-adjustment in culture” (Kato, 1976:11). It is in this sense of indissoluble union of religion and culture that Azumah makes a distinction of the two terms-‘religion’ and

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‘religiosity’. By explaining ‘religiosity’ as prevailing system and ‘religion’ as institution with codified sets of doctrines, Azumah finds the former more able to describe accurately the African perception of religion (Azumah, 2001:48).

This African and also the Akan understanding and even interpretation of religion is of huge concern as it points to a higher or superior conception of religion which embraces and actually makes room for the other religious communities. Religion among the Akan is to be understood in the broader sense of a prevailing system or lifeblood of the very survival of the society. In other words, religion is much more than an institution or even an organisation as it is commonly perceived now. As the prevailing system, the heart and centre of the life and the soul of culture of the Akan people, religion then becomes the spirit of all organized activities and as such an important unifying force. Religion does not just give meaning to culture it ensures the spiritual unity of the people. The chief, the ultimate custodian of the culture, then becomes the supreme spiritual head of the entire community who actually performs the various communal rituals and rites on behalf of his people as stipulated by customs and traditions.

3.2.4.2 A Case against Religion as a Prevailing System

One of the historians and religious commentators who has written extensively on religious diversity in West Africa communities is a reputable Ghanaian sociologist Max Assimeng. In his book Religion and Social Change in West Africa Assimeng argues that the notion of religion as a “solidarist” or prevailing system only works in simple societies where religion is public and serves the collective needs of the people. Assimeng argues further that in complex communities, religion takes the form of institution and functions to meet individual or private ends (Assimeng, 1989:123,124). Assimeng notes of religion in complex West African societies:

“There is now no single religion in which all men are embraced. There are different religions, and people now have the right to choose their beliefs and styles of worship. There is religious pluralism in which organised religious groups with incompatible beliefs and practices are

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obliged to co-exist within the framework of the same community or the same society. People now have the opportunity to choose their religion, and although this has not been a completely unfettered choice, yet there is the possibility of deciding which religion to choose, and whether to choose any at all.” (Assimeng, 1989:124)

Assimeng further remarks:

“Religion has now assumed one compartment of social life, instead of supervising or having suzareignty over all aspects of human behaviour as this used to be the case in traditional societies. There is, in modern times, what might be described as the specialization of the institutional competence of religion, and of its leading functionaries. This is because religion has now lost its overall supervision of other social institutions.” (Assimeng, 1989:125)

In the first place, Assimeng’s claim that religion has ceased to be a prevailing and collective system, public and social phenomenon which embraces all members of the society in contemporary, complex West African communities is farfetched. Religion is still the heart and soul of the society even in all societies of Ghana. Despite its diversity in the form of organised institutions, religion still performs its role as the pivot around which all aspects of the culture revolve. Any attempt to organise or run religion as a wholly isolated entity or institution in the likes of business enterprises fiercely competing with one another with little or no deliberate attempt to engage in purposeful, meaningful and fruitful encounter will be an absolute disaster to religion itself if not to the community. The capitalization of religion which actually demeans religion as a public property in favour of private enterprise is a gross misunderstanding of what religion is meant to be.

It is quite clear that Assimeng, a sociologist of high repute, looks at religion and social change in West Africa and so Ghana from purely sociological point of view. It appears his ultimate goal is to make a case for the theories of social development in a West African context. To this effect, Assimeng has done a brilliant job in making sociological theories applicable in the contemporary industrial and complex societies of West Africa. But the social

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theories of growth can only be applied to the communities in Ghana with some degree of caution. For, though West African societies, like all societies, have undergone some degree of social changes which is even affecting their religious understanding and practices, it is inappropriate for anyone to assume these societies are already complex, industrial and so private oriented. More than 50% of Ghanaian population is still basically rural, simple, largely illiterate and marginally affected if not untouched by industrialization. Furthermore, a large proportion of urban settlers are still significantly religious who do not in fact see a dichotomy between religious and public life. Religion is public and private, collective and individual, secular and spiritual all at the same time. The Ghanaian society can best be described as ‘transitional’ as Assimeng himself admits in his conclusion at the end of the chapter (Assimeng, 1989:163-164). It is neither wholly complex nor wholly simple. It continues to have notable features of both societies. It is a society where basic features of simple and complex societies hold sway and in equilibrium.

What people like Assimeng fail to acknowledge is that though there is a considerable degree of consistency in the general patterns of social development as societies gradually move from one stage to another, there is always a certain level of distinctiveness evident in the changes that different societies go through. In other words, every society has certain core structures which though subject to change always essentially remain the same. These structures may not necessarily be physical or material entity it may be concepts or notions or even peculiar understanding or general worldview of a people. The Akan people’s understanding of religion as public entity or prevailing phenomenon is one of the core elements of the old system which remains or has survived. The gradual and eventual embrace of the new religions of Islam and Christianity with scriptures and varying but defined theological stands by Ghanaians has had no obliterating effect on their primal views of religion (Bediako, 1995:176; Gyekye, 1996:17).

Also, it is actually strange that religious diversity be considered a feature of complex societies. Though religious diversity and so plurality in the sense of the existence of well defined and pronounced, organised institutions is a current and foreign phenomenon in Ghana it is however mistaken on Assimeng’s part to suggest that the traditional societies had no religious diversity at all especially when he himself characterises the traditional family system particularly the lineage as “a religious community; cult” and its head (ebusua panyin) “a religious priest” (Assimeng, 1981: 63). By alluding to the lineage, in particular, as a religious

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institution with distinctive features, Assimeng is actually admitting in the seven or eight lineages in a typical Akan community, multiplicity of religious communities. Religious differences also existed in their quite elementary forms in the shrines and various sacred places scattered all over the place. Religious plurality, then, has very little to do with complexities of society. Complex societies such as America and European remained so for years with only denominational diversity and not religious diversity. Even when religious diversity became quite evident and inevitable, politics and social circumstances in these countries prevented proper and genuine exchanges from taking place between the various religious traditions. That religion continues to play its central and communal role of unifying the people of Ghana, based on the Akan belief that religious traditions are not enemies of each other, is demonstrated by the high level of restraint and tolerance found in most of the communities. On the whole Ghanaian communities have dealt better with religious diversity and its attended controversies than other communities of the world.

3.3 DYNAMICS OF TRADITIONAL SOCIAL TIES

3.3.1 Kinship System

3.3.1.1 The Extended Family by Blood Relation

The extended family by blood relations is a kinship group42 of close relatives which expands to the third or fourth generations of descendents. The nuclear family which results from the traditional marriage43 always lays the foundation of and operates within the context of an

42 _{Kinship refers to social relationships derived from consanguinity, marriage and adoption. Among the Akan} people, kinship finds its expression in marriage, lineages and clans (Nukunya, 1992:11). The kinship linkage has for long being the foundation for the establishment and organization of many social groups and relationship among. In other words, it is actually the root of the society, the superstructure on which the very fabric of social life is built (Nukunya 1992:11). The kinship system prescribes statuses and roles to members in particular relationships such as marriage, lineage or clan. The Akan people, like any African people, are noted for their strong kinship ties.

43_{Traditional marriage is a social institution that brings a man and woman together as husband and wife.} Marriage becomes a family when children are born to the couple. The marriage makes the man a socially accepted husband and the woman a socially accepted wife. This marriage also provides the offspring with a socially recognized father and a socially recognized mother. The marriage establishes special relationship between the spouses special lays the foundations for and begins the nuclear family. This notwithstanding, the Akan nuclear family can exist without marriage or living together.