Traditional authority, enlightenment, and education bureaucracy in Ghana: The case of the Otumfuo Education Fund

Brefo, Henry (2024). Traditional authority, enlightenment, and education bureaucracy in Ghana: The case of the Otumfuo Education Fund. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Since the colonial period, monarchs in Asante have undertaken important projects in education to improve their communities' social well-being and material welfare. Following this tradition, in 1999, the current Asantehene Osei Tutu II initiated the Otumfuo Education Fund (OEF) to make education accessible to ‘brilliant but needy’ children in Asante and Ghana as a whole. This thesis examines the rise and fall of the Otumfuo Education Fund (OEF), to shed light on the complex relationship between education and the legitimacy of traditional rulers (‘chiefs’) in Ghana. It explores the interplay between traditional authority, formal education, and localised notions of social progress and success, as summed up in the Twi term anibue (lit. ‘eyes opened’, also translated as ‘enlightenment’).

Existing analyses of access to formal education in Ghana begin with mission-initiated and state-regulated efforts in the colonial period and have focused on the state and donors in the postcolonial period. This has hindered a deeper understanding of local initiatives and chiefs' utilization of education beyond formal state policy and practice. Situating the OEF within the historical context of traditional rulers' involvement in formal education, and in the specific global and national circumstances of the late 1990s, including democratization, World Bank initiatives, and the recognition of basic education as a child's right, it offers an interdisciplinary analysis of why development interventions in education fail.

Relying on archival records, interviews and observations, as well as data generated via local documentary practices, our findings suggest that the Asantehene Osei Tutu II strategically used education to further his hegemonic and political ambitions, ultimately impacting local support and dissatisfaction for the OEF. Contrary to conventional analysis of chiefs' role in development, this thesis challenges actor-oriented approaches and assumptions of brokerage. It highlights the importance of emotional and interpersonal dynamics in development practice. It also establishes a crucial link between the historical literature on education and political insights into the continuing power of traditional rulers, by showing how chiefs have incorporated bureaucratic governance into their registers of power through their engagement with education. Findings from the research hold important lessons for ongoing state initiatives (such as free Senior High School education, SHS) in expanding access to education for poorer communities in Ghana and Africa more broadly.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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