Abstract

Using Denkyira (an Akan tribal group in Ghana) as case study, the paper analyses the emergence, subsistence and declivity of indigenous political systems in post-colonial Africa. It argues that whilst there has been continuity in the cherished values of democracy and development, there has been a change in the political and social institutions for their realization. And colonialism bears a heavy, though far from exclusive, responsibility. The introduction of English-style political system during the era of colonialism systematically destabilized the once-thriving native political system of Denkyira. The paper draws the pessimistic prognosis that a further atrophy of the native political system is probable, due to globalization and the resultant modernizing and democratizing proclivities, creating the ground for full-grown English-style political system