History Research, ISSN 2159-550X June 2013, Vol. 3, No.

6, 389-405

D
Agyemang, Joseph Kwadwo
University of Ghana, Legon

DA VID

PUBLISHING

The Impact of Colonial Rule on the Gyaman State

Ofosu-Mensah, Ababio Emmanuel

University of Ghana, Legon

Gyamerah, Ebenezer Yaw

University of Ghana, Legon

The balkanisation of the African continent by the European powers in the nineteenth century caused the territorial division of people with the same ancestry into two or more states under different European governments. During the partition, the European powers did not take into consideration the cultural and historical boundaries of the people of Africa. In West Africa for example, the partition made some Nzema people to be found in La Cote dIvoire and in Ghana. Some Dagarti are also found in Burkina Faso and while others remained in Ghana. Ewes today can be found in the three countries of Ghana, Togo and Benin. The same applies to the Bono in Gyaman. Some of the Gyaman people can be found in the Ivory Coast with others in Ghana. This article discusses Gyaman under the British and French colonial rule. It focuses on the responses of Gyaman authorities to colonialism and details out British and French colonial policies and their impact on the Gyaman people. Keywords: Gyaman, British, French, colonial, Ghana, Cte d'Ivoire.

Context
Gyaman also spelled Jamang was a medieval African state of the Akan people, located in what is now Ghana and Cte d'Ivoire. Gyaman was founded by the Abron, a branch of the Akan, in the late 15th century. The Abron then proceeded to conquer the Kulangos, Nafanas, Ligbis, Hwelas, and other ethnic groups of the area. In the pre-colonial Gyaman government, a paramount chief known as the Gyamanhene ruled the kingdom from Amanvi, but his four provincial chiefs held the kingdoms real power. The kingdoms economy centered on the Dyula market town of Bonduku. In the 19th century, Gyaman was subjugated by the Ashanti, though it briefly regained its independence following the Ashanti defeat by the British. In 1888, Gyamanhene Agyeman signed a treaty of protection with France, but the French failed to establish a post in the kingdom, leaving it vulnerable to Samoris 1895 invasion. The French later expelled Samori in 1897, incorporating Gyaman into French West Africa. The Jaman District was a district in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. It was created in 1989 by splitting the former Berekum-Jaman District in two, and was itself split into the two districts of Jaman South and Jaman North by a decree of President John Agyekum Kufuor on November 12, 2003 (Wikipedia, 2010).
Agyemang, Joseph Kwadwo , MPhil, University of Ghana, Legon Ofosu-Mensah, Ababio Emmanuel, Member of Faculty, Department of History, P. O. Box LG 12 University of Ghana, Legon, Accra-Ghana. Email: ofosumens@yahoo.com; ofosumens@ug.edu.gh Phone: +233-208528333 (Corresponding author) Gyamerah, Ebenezer Yaw, BA (History), LL.B, University of Ghana, Legon. Email: ebenoye@yahoo.co.uk

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Introduction
A version of their traditional account states that the Gyaman people migrated from Akwamu in the 16th century and lived in Suntreso, now a suburb of Kumasi as Domaa people. Protracted war with Asante caused them to move further to their present location where they carved the Gyaman state under the leadership of Adu Bene. The Akwamu migrants subdued the indigenes that included the Gbin, Ligbi, Numa, Nafana, Lorho, Dagba, Kulango and the Anyi and integrated them into Akan culture to form a state of culturally homogenous identity with the occupant of the Kofi Sono Ambem stool as the traditional head (ADM 3/2/1, PRAAD, Sunyani). The political organisation of pre-colonial Gyaman was a centralised one and power was hierarchically arranged. The state was ruled by the Gyamanhene whereas a province was controlled by a provincial chief called the Omanhene. The Odikro controlled the village while the Abusuapanyin administered the affairs of the lineage. In the traditional Gyaman society the military and the state were united and complementary; however, there was no standing army. Every male beyond 17 years was an automatic member of the national army. The military was divided into battle wings to include Adondene (Vanguard), Akyidom (Rear), Bengum (Left Wing). It was the duty of the military to ensure the security of the state. The Gyamanhene was the Commander-in-Chief of the army. The state also had a traditional judicial system that comprised four sets of courts namely; the Gyamanhenes Court which was the national court, the Provincial Court, the Village Court and the Lineage Court. Offences were classified into private and public ones. The former severed the relationship between individual members of the community while the latter severed the relationship between the community and the ancestors. Pre-colonial Gyaman economic activities were basically subsistence food crop production, animal husbandry and hunting. Gold was also mined in large quantities, especially at Adandia and Soko. Ironwork, soap making and fabric designing were among the duties of Gyaman industrialists in the pre-colonial period. However, with the introduction of cocoa in the second decade of the twentieth century, subsistence food production was done alongside cocoa growing. Cocoa cultivation led to an influx of migrant farmers from Old Drobo, Pongo, Dawiri, Suma, and Amanvoso in the Northern part of British Gyaman to the forest areas of Dwenemu, Atuna and Nyame in the south to acquire land for farming purposes. Intra migration to acquire land for cocoa cultivation led to the establishment of new communities to include Kofuko, Faman, Gonasua, Komfokrom, Buobunu, Abrikasa, Konsia, Baano, and Adikorasi as well as Dodosua. Thus, the introduction of cocoa changed the demographic pattern of British Gyaman with the forest areas registering higher population density than the savannah areas of the north. This is confirmed by Mabogunjes (year) study which states that the geography of West Africa is such that the forest areas are richer than the savannah areas. This accounts for why the Gyaman forestlands attracted more migrants. In French Gyaman, while cocoa and coffee production was going on in the forest areas, cashew was also grown in the savannah belt. This occurrence discouraged the dislocation of population and sustained pre-colonial population patterns. In the Gyaman society, land was communally owned and the chiefs and family heads held the land in trust for the community. This is in keeping with the fundamental Akan perception of land as captured in the words of Dankwa (1928) thus: I conceive of land as belonging to a large family of which many are dead, a few are living and countless are yet unborn. The Gyaman system of government was both monarchical and theocratic in the sense that, a chief was the

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political head and at the same time, the intermediary between the living and the ancestral spirits. His religious role was epitomised by the spiritual functions he performed at the annual Munufie festival.

Arrival of Colonialism in Gyaman

European exploration of Africa, the abolition of slave trade, the introduction of legitimate trade and the crusading activities of the Christian missionaries were precursors of the European imperialist schedule on the African continent. Available evidence indicates that before 1910, only about ten per cent of Africa had been occupied by European powers; however, by the end of the second decade of the twentieth century, only Liberian and Ethiopia were independent states in Africa. Boahen (1990) in his chapter entitled, Africa and the Colonial Challenge of his book Africa and the Colonial Challenge contends that, an overwhelming majority of African authorities and leaders were passionately opposed to colonial rule. They expressed their willingness to maintain the status quo and to defend their independence and sovereignty. In 1891, when the British offered protection to Prempeh I of Asante, he was reported to have declined the offer, stating that:
The suggestion that Asante in its present state should come and enjoy the protection of Her Majesty the Queen and Empress of England; I may say is a matter of very serious consideration and which I am happy to say we have arrived at this conclusion that my kingdom of Asante will never commit itself to any such policy. Asante must remain as of old at the same time remain friendly with all white men. (Boahen, 1990)

Similarly, Wobogo, the Moro Naba or King of Mossi, said to the French captain, Destenave in 1895 as follows:
I know the whites wish to kill me in order to take my country and yet you claim that they will help me to organise my country. But I find my country good just as it is. I have no need of them; I know what is necessary for me and what I want. I have my own merchants; also consider yourself fortunate that I do not order your head to be cut off. Go away now and above all never come back. (Boahen, 1990)

When the Italians attempted to invade Ethiopia in 1895, Menelik, the Emperor declared:
Enemies have now come upon us to ruin our country and to change our religion ... Our enemies have begun the affair by advancing and digging into the country like mole. With the help of God I will not deliver my country to them... Today, you who are strong, give me your strength and you who are weak, help me by prayer. (Boahen, 1990)

Other African leaders who expressed similar sentiments were La Dior, Daniel of Cayor (in Senegal) in 1983, King Machemba of the Yao tribe in Tanzania and Hendrik Witbooi, a king in South-West Africa (Boahen, 1990). In the Gyaman state, Kwame Afram, the chief of Suma; Kwaku Kosono alias Papi, the Akyidomhene and the ruler of Gomere and Basako, the Fumasuahene declined French protection which led to their assassination by the French at Bonduku in 1893. Kwame Menza (Mensah), a prince and sub-chief of Pruano (Gyapekrom) violently resisted British intrusion and refused to accept the British flag in 1898 culminating in his exile to Cte d'Ivoire. Active resistance involved armed confrontation while passive resistance involved either refusing to obey the colonialist or migrating to avoid the humiliating effect of colonial rule. Collaboration entailed allying with the colonialist to protect ones country from external aggression or subdue internal uprising. Notwithstanding this resistance, the British succeeded in declaring Gyaman a protectorate in 1882 when Gyamanhene Kweku Agyemang succumbed to their intrusion in a form of collaboration in order to secure his sovereignty from

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Asante. Attempts made by the British to declare Gyaman a protectorate started in 1879 when Mensah Bonsu, the king of Asante (1874-1883) was inclined to restore Asante to its former glory. In 1878, he sent messengers to Gyaman to say that the Queen of England had given the whole of Gyaman to him. Accordingly, Gyamanhene Kweku Agyemang sent messengers to the Governor at Cape Coast to ascertain the veracity of this claim. Subsequently, a British officer was sent to Gyaman to deny Mensah Bonsus claim. This resulted in a frosty relationship between Asante and Gyaman. Fearing an imminent Asante invasion, Kweku Agyeman and his sub-chiefs finally agreed to be protected by the British. Major Lansdale and two other British officers signed the document on behalf of the British Governor. Agyemang was presented with a Union Jack and was informed that his country had formally been accepted as a British protectorate. A British flag was hoisted at Bonduku in a colourful ceremony. Afterwards, Kweku Agyemang informed Lansdale that now that they had become friends, he hoped they could march together against the king of Asante and recover the Golden stool, which was originally a royal stool of the king of Gyaman but had been captured by Asante. Even though Lansdale declined Agyemangs request, the situation could not severe British-Gyaman alliance. Kweku Agyemangs request support the fact that, Gyaman sought for British protection to maintain its sovereignty. Gyaman remained a British protectorate till the Anglo-French Delimitation Treaty of 1898 that partitioned the entire Gyaman state into the British and French spheres of influence. Why then was the partition of Gyaman between the British and the French made possible? Two reasons accounted for this. Firstly, Kweku Agyemang had earlier signed a treaty of friendship and commerce with the French captain Binger to promote trade at the French port of Kinjabo near Half Assini because the Sargrenti War (1874) in which Asante was defeated by the British had made trade routes that passed through Asante from Gyaman to the coast unsafe. Agyemang, wanting an outlet market for Gyaman gold signed the Trade Treaty. This exposed the commercial potency of Gyaman to the French who might have wanted to occupy it for economic cause. Secondly, the partition of Gyaman was occasioned by Anglo-French rivalry over the occupation of the area. In 1893, not long after the death of Gyamanhene, Kweku Agyemang; Samori Toure advancing from Senegal captured Bonduku and its environs. Nana Kwame Afram, the Sumahene requested military aid from the British Governor at Cape Coast. The governor accordingly dispatched a military detachment led by Lt. Henderson of the Gold Coast Constabulary, which succeeded in defeating Samoris forces, the Sofa. Shortly, after Samoris invasion, the French government came to offer protection to Gyaman. Kwame Afram declined this offer culminating in his assassination by the French at Bonduku together with Nana Kweku Kosono alias Papi and Basorko, the Fumasuahene respectively. The rivalry between the British and French over the acquisition of the Gyaman territory had by the last decade of the nineteenth century become perceptible. It was to settle this contention that the Anglo-French Delimitation Treaty (1898) was signed, which resulted in the partition of Gyaman. After the partition, the British and French firmly established themselves in Gyaman and labelled their areas of occupation as British Gyaman and French Gyaman respectively. In January, 1896, Kumasi, the seat of the Asantehene was occupied by the British forces and Asante was subsequently defeated and brought under the British colonial sphere of influence. The final defeat of Asante by the British in the Yaa Asantewaa War (1901) strengthened British dominance over Asante. Bagulo (1996) relates that in 1898 the boundaries between the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast and the French possession to the north-west were defined culminating in the partition of Gyaman between the French and British spheres.

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In defining internal colonial boundaries, British Gyaman and Ahafo were put under the same administrative jurisdiction with Asante because of the peoples linguistic and cultural intimacy with Asante. The resident Commissioner Donald Steward said of British Gyaman and Ahafo as follows. They are peopled by Asante having intimate relations with the chiefs and are near Kumasi and have no natural connection with the Sefwi from whom they are separated by a thick belt of forest only inhabited by few hunters. The partition of the Gyaman state by the boundary had far-reaching political, social and economic consequences. British Gyaman was declared a native authority in accordance with the principles of the indirect rule following Kwadwo Bosea, the Drobohenes elevation as a head chief (Gyamanhene). The seat of the administration was located at Old Drobo. In an invented tradition to suit the prescriptions of the indirect rule system, rulers of traditional states namely: Suma, Seketia (Kwatwoma), Dwenem, Atuna, Nyame, Gyapekrom as well as those of the leading villages of the British Gyaman section of Pinango province namely: Korase, Pongo, Amanvoso, Kwameseikrom, Bodaa etc., who were before the partition subservient to the Gyamanhene were aggregated and instead made subordinate to the Drobohene in his capacity as the Omanhene (Gyamanhene). Though Seikwa and Nsawkaw did not form part of the original Gyaman state yet they were included in the British Gyaman Division for administrative convenience. These rulers became the Asafohene (wing chiefs) of the Drobohene in an innovative constitutional order purported to enhance colonial rule in British Gyaman; however, they held title to their lands. By 1925 the rulers of Gyapekrom and Pongo were the Akyidomhene and the Adondenhene of the Drobohene respectively. The submission of the aforenamed rulers to the authority of the Drobohene was not warranted by solid allegiance stipulated by the Gyaman constitutional custom. Their subservience to him in the new order was just to advance colonial administrative expediency. The British colonial authorities referred to the Drobohene as the Gyamanhene or the Omanhene of British Gyaman (Gold Coast Chiefs List, 1935). A version of Old Drobo traditions relates that a palace was put up to house the British Gyaman Native authority during the reign of the Drobohene Kwame Adingra (Takyi, 2007). The Divisional Council, the governing body of the British Gyaman Native Authority was composed of the Omanhene, the Asafohene and the Queen of Drobo who assumed the status of the Omanhemaa (Paramount Queen) of British Gyaman (Takyi, 2007). Perceived as an affront to Gyaman constitutional custom, the Drobohenes elevation engendered fierce protests from the rest of the chiefs led by Kwame Konadu the Sumahene. The protests became incessant until 1936 when the Committee of Privileges endorsed the termination of servitude of Dwenem, Suma, Kwatwoma, Seikwa, Nsawkaw and others to the Drobohene. This ended the life span of the British Gyaman division with the subsequent emergence of the Suma-Kwatwoma division and the Drobo division. Turmoil in these two divisions which found expression in the secessionist agitations culminating in the formation of the Awasu and the Gyapekrom Traditional Councils in 1959 and 1961 respectively as autonomous political entities. This meant that, after decolonisation, and by the close of the year 1961, British Gyaman had been balkanised into six autonomous traditional political entities namely Drobo, Awasu, Gyapekrom, Suma, Kwatwoma, and Sampa. The strong expression of the sense of identity which eventually resulted in the balkanisation of British Gyaman was informed by ancestral pride. Chieftaincy was incorporated into the British colonial administration through the system of indirect rule. Under this system,

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chiefs retained their judicial powers through the native court system, although the court was subjected to checks and controls by the British. However, the chief completely lost his military role when a national security force was established. British Gyaman was administered as an integral part of the Asante colony. In 1898 and after the partition of Gyaman, the British stationed a colonial officer at Sampa (formerly Sikassiko) the British Gyaman territory was made a colonial administrative district. In 1901, this district was enlarged to include Wenchi, Takyiman, Berekum, Wam (Domaa) and Ahafo, covering an area of about 500 square miles. The new district was named North-Western District of Asante. Divisions of Kumasi, Mampong, Dwaben, Nsuta, Bekwai, Asumegya, Kumawu, Adanse, Kokofu and British Gyaman had by 1906 been declared Native Authorities. The period between 1906 and 1935 in the colonial history of Gyaman saw boundary disputes between the chiefs of British Gyaman. In 1908 there was a land dispute between Dwenem and Gyapekrom that almost resulted in a fatal clash. The case was put before the Native Court which ruled in favour Gyapekrom. In 1909 a case which involved Dwenem and Nyame was brought to the Native Court. Nyame was situated on Dwenem stool land but it refused to pay rubber tribute to the Dwenemhene. The Court ruled in favour of Dwenem and Nyame was ordered to pay two loads of rubber annually to the Dwenemhene as tribute. In 1911, there was a division among the people of Dadiem. One faction wanted to serve the Banda Stool while the other was determined to serve Suma. Traditions relate that the people of Dadiem constituted three tribes namely: The Mo, the Nafana (Frantra),and the Banda (Konadu, 2006). It was the Nafana and the Banda who wanted to serve the Banda stool. The case was first of all put before the Native Court and later before the Magistrate Court at Wenchi. Following the Courts ruling the land was partitioned and the Palati River fixed as a boundary between Suma and Banda. The Court ordered that the group that wanted to serve Banda should cross the Palate River and settle on Banda land. Subsequently, the Sumahene put the chief of Jinini in charge of Dadiem (Konadu, 2006). In December, 1911, Kofi Boakye, the Odikro of Badu attempted to break away from Seikwa and in addition lay claim to the land on which Badu was situated. The dispute was resolved at the Native Court where Kofi Boakye was found guilty and was fined five pounds. In the following year Kofi Boakye of Badu resumed hostilities with Seikwa. The dispute was referred to the Magistrate Court and again Kofi Boakye was found guilty. The Court compelled him to renew his allegiance and loyalty to the Seikwahene in addition to a resolution that: Any subject of Badu who killed an elephant was not to give part of it as tribute to the Seikwahene (because Badu people were subjects of Seikwa). Badu natives were to tap rubber free of tribute; however a foreigner who tapped rubber was required to pay tribute to the Seikwahene (ADM ARG 1/2/11/3). In 1908, Korase and Seikwa disputed over a stretch of land between the Tain River and Asare. The Native Court determined the case in favour of Korase. In 1908 Goka and Seikwa disputed over a boundary. The case was put before the Native Court that ruled in favour of Seikwa. Natives of Suma-Ahenkro (Nweneme) dissatisfied with the verdict treated Kwadwo Bosea, the Omanhene who presided over the Court with contempt and threatened disturbances at Old Drobo. The case was referred to the Magistrate Court and the ruling went in favour of Seikwa; consequently, the Sumahene was ordered to pay a full oath fee to the Drobohene for his misconduct. In the delimitation treaty that followed the Akwata River was cited as a boundary between Goka and Seikwa.

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The French in Gyaman

After the French secured their portion Gyaman territory from the Anglo-French Delimitation Treaty of 1898, the metropolitan government declared French Gyaman Un Cercle de Bondoukou (a Region of Bondoukou) under the administration of Conmandant de Cercle stationed in Bondoukou.Gyaman was further divided into les cantons provinces and les villages villages. While the Cercle was ruled by a French administrator known as the Commandant de Cercle, les cantons and les villages which were smaller administrative units were ruled by chiefs (Ginio, 2002). The French designed their administration on the basis of the existing indigenous political order. The Gyamanhene (King of the Abron) was allowed to continue to rule over his subjects. In the institution of Cheferie Superier he was recognized by the colonial administration as a paramount Chief or King (Chef Superier ou Roi) whereas his provincial chiefs were recognized as such and were referred to as Chefs des Cantons. His Adikrofo (village heads) were also recognized as such and were referred to as Chefs des Villages. Gyaman chiefs were integrated into the French colonial administration charged to execute colonial policies such as forced labour and forced taxation (Nana Bibi II, 2006). In 1898, forced labour was introduced in Gyaman and it was used to construct the French post in Bondoukou. Forced labour from the Gyaman people was intensively used in the construction of the AbidjanNiger railways. The AsseufryTransoua, AsseufryTanda, AsseufryGomere, GomereBondoukou, AssuefryKwameseikrom road. Forced labour was termed by the Gyaman people as protor (Adiko, 2008). Chiefs were used as means to enforce forced labour and collect taxes. The taxes so collected went to the colonial administration for the development of the area. The French introduced new levies in 1901 to include head tax. A village chief who refused to put into effect forced labour and forced taxation was punished by the Commandant de Cercle to suffer imprisonment or humiliation by open flogging. It was after 1901 that five percent of taxes collected went to the chiefs in the form of bonuses and in 1930 it was decided that fixed salaries be given to the chiefs. Ordinances were passed by the colonial government to protect the chiefs in the discharge of their duties. Clause 28 of the Indigenant reinforced the chiefs authority by punishing whoever tried to contest it. It was the duty of the French administration to encourage the chiefs to be efficient. The Gyamanhene Cercle was to respond to the Kings request when justified. He was to correct the Kings mistake in a friendly manner, work to obtain his confidence and become his advisor. The French worked to preserve the customs of Gyaman people as long as they did not contradict the principle of French civilization. Available historical evidence indicates that Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman was an ally of the French. Immediately after the declaration of the Second World War in 1939, Kwadwo Agyeman told Govenor Horace Crocicchia of Cote dIvoire that:
Facing these inhuman creatures who are blooding France a second time, we the sons of the Abron at this moment of the defense of our motherland are ready to her call and are happy to die for her being certain of victory. (Lawler, 1997)

Aduanahene Prince Kwame Adingra openly supported his fathers pro-France stance. Three other sons of Kwadwo Agyeman, the Gyamanhene on their own volition joined the Tiralleur Senegalais. By their attitude, they set an example that paved the way for general recruitment into the French army in the region of Bondoukou. Available evidence indicates that over 1,000 Gyaman natives joined the army. During the first phase of the war, Kwadwo Agyeman, the Gyamanhene was reported to have raised 500,000 francs for the French Red Cross in addition to donating 24 tons of cocoa to provide chocolate bars for the French soldiers.

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Turmoil in French Gyaman

French Gyaman unlike British Gyaman remained politically intact and unperturbed in the period of the French colonial rule. Among reasons that accounted for this were: First, the paramountcy united the provincial chiefs as before. Secondly, the French did not interfere the existing constitutional relationship between stools as was the case of British Gyaman. However, the reign of Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman who enstooled his son, Kwame Adingra as Aduanahene in appreciation for his services was a period of chaos. Turmoil hit the state following Kwame Adingras enstoolment which contravened the Gyaman constitutional custom. The Aduana stool and the Kofi Sono Ambem stool were united and complementary. The Gyamanhene was the occupant of the Aduana stool otherwise referred to as the Kofi Sono Ambem stool. Kwame Adingras occupation of the Aduana stool therefore meant that the king had made his son a deputy and an automatic heir. Adingras ability to speak French boosted his status. He was privileged to represent the Gyamanhene at meetings with colonial officials. This privilege soon crystallized to rights. Through tact and cunning diplomacy, Adingra usurped the powers of his father and ruled as a regent. Confident of governments support, Prince Adingra was able to suppress and convert over, opposition from the provincial chiefs. (Agyeman, 2007). Opposition to the constitutionality of Kwame Adingras occupation of the Aduana stool continued even when Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman and his entire Court migrated to the Gold Coast to support the propaganda effort of the British-Gaullist during the World War II.

The French Vichy Regime and the Migration of Kwadwo Agyeman, the Gyamanhene to the Gold Coast (Ghana)
The migration of Kwadwo Agyeman, the Gyamanhene and his entire court to the Gold Coast in 1940 was occasioned by the persecution they suffered under the Vichy appointed Commandant de Cercle. The Vichy regime or Vichy France was a government of France from July, 1940 to August 1944. This government officially called itself Etats Francais (French State). Marshal Philippe Petain proclaimed the government following the military defeat of France by the Nazi Germany during World War II and the vote by the National Assembly on July 10, 1940. This vote granted extra ordinary powers to pertain, the last president de Conseil (Prime Minister) of the third Republic. Petain took the additional title of Chef dEtat Francais (Chief of the French State) and held a reactionary program aimed at regenerating the nation. The regimes administrative centre of Vichy was located in the southern unoccupied zone. The German Wehrmatch occupied the Northern Territory whilst Petain had authority in both North and South. Petain and Vichy collaborated with Nazi Germany to a high degree. The French police organized raids to capture Jews and others who were considered undesirable in both the southern and northern zones. General Charles de Gaulle challenged the legitimacy of the Vichy regime that claimed to incarnate the legitimacy and continuity of France. Following the Allies invasion of France in the Operation Overlord, De Gaulle proclaimed the Government provisionale de Republic Francais (Provisional Government of the French Republic (G.P.R.F.)). The G. P. R. F. installed itself in Paris in August 31, 1944 after the liberation of Paris and was recognized as the legitimate government of France by the Allies in October 23, 1944. Vichy officials and supporters went to Sigmaringen in Germany and established a government on exile headed by Petain.

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Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman and his provincial chiefs of French Gyaman together with 800 supporters migrated to seek refuge in the Gold Coast between 1940 and 1945 (MAG, 1/2/2/27). The attitude of the Vichy appointed Commandant de Cercle towards Kwadwo Agyeman occasioned the migration. The commandant treated the Gyamanhene with contempt. He did not approved of the Kings habit of extracting gifts from his subjects and forced the King to return them. The Vichy regime might have been suspicious of the Gyamanhenes pro-Guallists stance, an attitude, which might have occasioned his persecution. Gyaman refugees were hosted at Sunyani, Kumawu, Asokore, Kwaman, Duayawnkwanta,and Ejisu by the Asantehene upon directives of the British Government (MAG, No 7/2/42; MAG, 1/2/2/27; MAG, 1/2/27; MAG, 1/2/27). The provincial chiefs and the Queens rebellion against Prince Kwame Adingras position as Aduanahene of Gyaman in defense of the Gyaman constitution was overtly launched in the period of their exile in the Ghana. They contended that Kwame Adingra was an imposter whose occupation of the Aduana stool was in contravention with the Gyaman constitutional custom and appealed to the Asantehene and the British colonial government to denounce Adingras recognition as their leader and representative. In their letter of April, 1942 written to that effect to the Asantehene and the C. C. A., Queen, Akua Dapaa; Kwasi Mensa, the Akyidomhene; Kofi Gyabaa, the Kyirebio-Nkwantahene and Kwabena Agyeman, the Tonjanhene expressed as follows: From time immemorial the only Aduana stool in the Jaman state was the one occupied by the Jamanhene and this second stool was created by Kwame Adingra himself subject to our disapproval and displeasure but as his father (the Jamanhene) was in his favour we did not refute knowing that might have resulted in a grat misunderstanding between ourselves and our Paramount Ruler, the Jamanhene. Since he conferred upon himself the title of Aduanahene he seems to usurp the position of ours for the has planted deep into the ears of the Authorities here that he is the only important chief next to his father, the Jamanhene. That we swear by our stools that we will remain loyal to the British government but we do not want Kwame Adinkra to be our leader and spokesman and to represent our views. All communication from the government should pass through our paramount chief and we promise to help government at any time that our services will be required, for we are now fed up of being victimized by selfishness, dishonesty unfaithfulness and disrespect. We hope our worship will make our grievances known to the authorities concerned for immediate redress so as be happy during the rest of our stay here (MAG. 1/2/27). The British government prevailed on the Asantehene to settle the impasse which he did but Kwame Adinkra was not deposed. While Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman was in exile Adu Kwame from Herebo was installed as a regent till the formers return in 1945 when De Gaulle took over. After the death of Kwadwo Agyeman the French colonial government installed his son Kwame Adingra as Gyamanhene in appreciation for his contribution towards the propaganda effort of the Gaullists. He was later crowned the head chief of the entire Cote dIvoire by the De Gaulle Government (MAG. 1/2/27). The Impact of Colonial Rule on Gyaman The dual colonial control of Gyaman by Britain and France had far reaching political, economical and social consequences on the Gyaman state and its people. This section of the paper discusses and shed more light palpable and pervasive consequences of British and British and French occupation of the Gyaman territory of West Africa.

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Political Consequences Politically, it was responsible for the split of the Gyaman state and the resultant inclusion of it into two modern nation states. The partition resulted in the inclusion of the larger portion of the Gyaman state and its paramountcy in La Cote dIvoire and a smaller part of it in the Gold Coast (Ghana)1. Thus the Ghanaian section of Gyaman was estranged from the paramountcy. In Gyaman as it was in most centralized African traditional states the paramount ruler served as a unifying factor. He functioned as a force of gravity that pulled the states political structures together to ensure a chain of command and political harmonization in the state. The estrangement of the Ghanaian section of Gyaman from the paramountcy posed a threat to unity in the area. All provincial chiefs of the Gyamanhene who were based in Ghana regarded themselves as equal as they lacked a common leader. This phenomenon was a source of political instability of the area which found expression in secessionist agitations up to 1959 as discussed above. The partition bisected some traditional provinces and obstructed their internal harmonization. Some leading town of the Pinango province namely. Kwameseikrom, Kokosua, Febi, Nzonzomea, Bodaa and Akroforo were included in Ghana while the rest were based in Cote dIvoire. Today, these towns form an integral part of the Suma Traditional Area and the Drobo Traditional Area. A greater part of the Suma Province was located in Ghana while Priti, one of its important towns was located in Cote dIvoire (Knoadu, 2007). The partition hindered collective enforcement of traditional laws and customs between the two halves of Gyaman and impeded collective planning and implementation of policies. The Gyamanhene became more pre-occupied with native affairs of French Gyaman than with those of British Gyaman (Gyabaa, 2006). Colonial separation of the original Gyaman state provoked divided loyalty. After the partition, British Gyaman became an integral part of the Asante Confederacy by virtue of a colonial administrative order. Gyaman chiefs based in Ghana (Gold Coast) encountered a problem of dual loyalty. They swore and oath of allegiance to the Gyamanhene their constitutional head and again swore another to the Asantehene in his capacity as the president of the Asante Confederacy. The paramount chiefs of Drobo and Suma, the Adondenhene and the Nifahene respectively of the Gyamanhene occasionally presided over the Asantehenes Court A in Kumasi. Chiefs of British Gyaman conveniently settled their cases at the Asantehene, British Gyaman chiefs were treated as his subjects. The Asantehene could rebuke Gyamanhenes involvement in the native affairs of British Gyaman. Where he interfered, the Asantehene had to approve of it. In July 1945, Kwame Adingra, the Aduanahene acting on behalf of Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman, his father, had to request for the Asantehenes permission in order to intervene in the Drobo stool dispute. In his letter to the Asantehene, Kwame Adingra stated as follows: I have the honour to forward this my humble petition through the D. C. of WENCHI to both His Honourable the CCA AND Otumfour the Asantehene desiring to have permission with a view to making amicable settlement between the Drobohene and his subjects. Sir/Nana I would not have probed into these matters, had it not been my bounding duty to intercede as custom demands. According to ancient customs and usages these subjects are forbidden to drinking fetish for one may be forced to drink a fetish but if the one has no free conscience the drinking of the fetish would proved abortive. For this reason, I earnestly pray that your
1

Majority of the Gyamanhenes Provincial Chiefs were located in the French Gyaman territory of Cote dIvoire. They included: Sienji, Fumasua, Adondene (Songore), (Gyeene), Gyaase, Akwamu, Angobea, Akyidom, Sanaa, Aduana, Meneso, Pinango (Bengum). Others located in Ghana were the Adondene (Drobo), Nifa (Suma), Abakoma (Gyapekrom); Okyeame, (Seketia and Atuna). Dwenem was a Royal of the Kofi Sono Ambem stool.

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kindly permit both the Drobohene and his subjects to come here for peaceful settlement of the case. They would accordingly be urged to return and render the usual services as they have been doing from time immemorial to you. That as the war is not yet over it is my honest desire to assist both Nana Asantehene, the king so there might not be any further disturbances whilst the great Empire is at war with Japan. Hence I am asking you most humbly permit me in to bringing the people of Drobo into peaceful settlement. Not that the previous decision was erroneous far being from such intentions. I wish to promote peace or good spirit. As you kindly allowed me to settle the dispute, reconcile them together in between Dwenem and Drobo land case. (emphasis ours) (ADM RAO, 2/14,). The above refers to a situation where Kwame Adingra acting for Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman requested to intervene in a stool dispute of Drobo in which Yaw Bediako, the Krondihene of Drobo; Kofi Kom, the Kyidomhene of Drobo; Kwadwo Faka, the Odikro of Kwasibuokrom; Kwasi Amoah, the Gyapekromhene and the Akwamuhene of Drobo; Kwasi Agyei, the Nifahene of Drobo; Kofi Kwan, the Odikro of Mpuasu; Kofi Kesse, the Odikro of Kwankrom; Yaw Gyamfi, the Odikro of Dodosuo; Kwaku Dapaa the Odikro of Katakyiekrom and Kofi Tano, the Odikro of Kwameseikrom threatened to destool Kofi Boase, the Drobohene for autocracy and disrespect for his Elders. They preferred charges against him and petitioned the Asantehene and the Chief Commissioner of Ashanti (C.C.A) to effect his destoolment. The Asantehene had earlier investigated the case and acquitted the Drobohene not only for fear that his destoolment might disrupt the Drobo Division but also because he was in the good books of the colonists. The malcontents were not satisfied with the verdict as they suspected foul play. Disturbances and chaos that rocked the Drobo state nearly disrupted it. It was against this background that Gyamahene Kwadwo Agyeman expressed his desire to calm the storm. A letter from his office written to the effect was submitted to the Asantehene and Edward Gerald Hawkesworth, the Chief Commissioner of Asante through Neil Ross, the District Commissioner at Wenchi but the Asantehene reprimanded Gyamanhenes intervention for what he saw as the latters interference in Asante affairs. His sentiments were captured in the minutes the Chief Commissioner sent to the Colonial Secretary as follows: Reference my letter No. 00255/5(3) 5th June 1945, forward herewith some letters that have been received by the District Commissioner, Wenchi from the Jamanhene in French Ivory Coast. The letters were delivered by one of the malcontents of Drobo and did not pass through the French Commandant at Bonduku. The Asantehene does not desire any interference in Ashanti affairs by the Jamanhene and the another recommend that the letters be sent to the Governor of French Ivory Coast asking that the Jamanehene may be informed to that effect. The present position of Drobo is that the Confederacy Council acquitted the Drobohene of the charges made against him. He has now returned to his village but the malcontents have so refused to renew their allegiance (ADM BRG. 15). The French and British colonialism contained several abuses. For example,it subjected the Gyaman people to forcible military obligations. French Gyaman natives were forcibly conscripted into the black army-Tiralleure Senegalaise. On the other hand natives of British Gyaman also suffered forcible conscription into the colonial army during the World Wars. Colonialism also led to the dwindling of the Gyaman state. Its important tributaries such as Dormaa, Abesim and Berekum took advantage of the partition and the resultant separation of the paramountcy from British Gyaman to assert their independence.

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Through the system of Indirect Rule the British interfered in an established constitutional order of the Gyaman people. As discussed earlier, the chief of Drobo, an advance guard of the Gyamanhene was selected from among his peers and made a head chief charged to execute colonial policies. This arrangement that was made for the easy administration of the British colony was in keeping with the philosophy of Indirect Rule as advanced by Frederick Lugard in his book, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. However, colonial administrative ease was an affront to the Gyaman constitutional custom and engendered conflicts over land and relentless disputes of a constitutional nature. In French Gyaman, the French interfered in the institution of chieftaincy for political considerations. The Vichy regime replaced Gyamahene Kwadwo Agyeman with Adu Kwame, a proVichy king in 1942 (Ginio, 2002). This was after Kwadwo Agyeman together with his entire court had defected to support the BritishGaullists in the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1942. When Kwadwo Agyeman died in 1953 his successor was not appointed in line with the Gaullists government as a reward for his contribution to the propaganda efforts of the British-Gaullists. This became a source of internal squabbles. It undermined the stability of the state and provoked a conspiracy that ultimately resulted in the assassination of Kwame Adingra in an orchestrated lorry accident. In British Gyaman the colonist interfered in the sources of income for the chief. Though sources of income for the chief such as taxes and tributes were retained in the institution of the Native Authority Treasury, taxes so collected needed the approval of the Resident District Commissioner. He determined how much to pay as taxes, the mode of collection and the use to which it was put. Taxes collected were deposited in the Native Authority Treasury. Expenditure of the Native Authority also needed the approval of the Resident District Commissioner. Similarly, in French Gyaman, the colonial administration curtailed major sources of income of Gyaman chiefs. These included tributes and taxes. The colonial government instituted a new form of taxes and in the new order reduced the chiefs to mere tax collectors. The consequences were that Gyaman chiefs were impoverished as one French colonial officer admitted as follows:
In preventing the collection of taxes which was in former times composed of the income of the king and his chiefs we have so impoverished them that the people they administer no longer have the least respect for them. (Terray, 1980)

Further, as trite history as it may sound; colonialism undermined the judicial authority of the chief. In French Gyaman, the French anti-feudalist stance and their desire to introduce French civilization interfered the judicial authority of the chief. They took away the judicial role of the Gyamanhene and transferred it to the Commandnat de Cercle stationed at Bonduku. By this approach, the conduct of the Gyamanhene and his provincial chiefs towards their subjects was put under scrutiny and check. By interfering in the judicial role of the king, he was denied another major source of income. The French alleged that the judicial taxes were high and did not conform to the French sense of morality and justice. Ruth Ginio (2002) quoting Terray in respect of the French attitude towards the Gyaman (Abron) judicial practice had this to say:
Il est evident que le noir avec son temperament denfant usait et abusalt de coutumes. (Terray, 1980).

Translation: It is obvious that the black (referring to the Gyaman) with childish disposition abused their custom. In British Gyaman, the colonists also interfered in the judicial authority of the chief, thus, directly replicating the experience in French Gyaman as narrated supra. In the institution of the Native Court, his

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customary dictated and unchallenged judicial role was subjected to a supervision of the District Commissioner who reviewed judicial decisions of the chief and ordered retrial of cases where he deemed fit. Colonialism brought civil liberty in Gyaman. In British Gyaman a person through an established legal process could transfer his allegiance or repeal his allegiance to a stool, a practice that was treasonable and attracted capital punishment in pre-colonial Gyaman. On 21st January, 1950, Kwabena Abomaa broke ties with the Suma Kropa stool. In the affidavit he prepared to the effect he stated as follows: Kwabena Abomaa of Suma-Goka now temporary residing in Kumasi make oath and say as follows: That I am one of the surviving sons of my mother, Akua Tamea a member of the royal family of the Suma Kropo stool who died about 10 years ago. That my mother pre-deceased my father Yaw Konto of Koti, Suma. That when Obaapanin Adjua Kunto the mother of the ex-chief Kwabena Bonsusu, the predecessor of present occupant of the Kropa stool died, it was my said mother who succeeded her. That when the ex-chief Kwabena Bansusu was destooled, Obaapanin Akua Mantuagya elected me as the successor, her nomination was cancelled by the members of the family so that I was not called and the election and installation of the candidate was carried out without my knowledge as a member of the stool family. That I, having thus been ostracised, I feel that the tie of kinship existing between me and other member of the family has been broken and I hereby disavow or transfer my allegiance there from and assure the Suma paramount stool of my loyalty and devotion to the occupant of the Great Yiadom stool of Suma And I make this Affidavit in support of my decision to remain a loyal subject to the Great Yiadom stool of Suma but for the reason given above I transfer and disavow my alleginance from the said Kropa stool the members of which family having broken the ties of kinship (ADM BRG 1/2/51). The above refers to a situation in which Abomaa was denied a stool at Goka. Aggrieved Abomaa in an Affidavit notified the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast (Ghana) through the Suma Native Court of the break of his allegiance to the Kropa stool. British colonial policy altered traditional boundaries and replaced them with colonial administrative ones. The British quest for simplicity in the administration of the British Gyaman territory amalgamated the traditional provinces of the original Gyaman state into a single colonial administrative Division called the Gyaman Division with the chief of Drobo as the head chief. After 1936, the Gyaman Division split into two following the decision of the Committee of Privileges. The new Divisions: the Drobo Division and the SumaKwatwoma Division had boundaries that did not conform to those of the pre-colonial traditional provinces as they were haphazardly carved to have distorted pre-colonial political order. This distortion became a source of persistent boundary disputes among the chiefs in British Gyaman. In 1945 Gyamanhene Kwadwo Agyeman settled a boundary dispute between Dwemen and Drobo. In 1950 there was another boundary dispute between Drobo and Atuna (Konadu, 2007). Social Consequences Socially, the dual control of the British and the French with the resultant partition of the Gyaman state subjected its people to an official language barrier. The Gyaman state was a British colony till 1898 when it was partitioned. If it had remained so till the period of decolonisation all Gyaman people would have had English as an official language. The French introduced French while the British introduced English in their areas of occupation. This impeded effective communication between the people in French Gyaman and those in

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British Gyaman especially in diplomatic sphere. Also, it limited scholarly interests and pursuits. Secondly, colonialism divided the people into Anglophone and Francophone zones with different orthographies for indigenous names as shown in Table 1: Table 1 Table Showing the French and English Spellings of Some Akan Names
ANGLOPHONE SPELLING Agyeman Kyeraa Pra Debbie Sekyere Kwaku Kwame Kwadwo Kwabena Takyi Akua Yaw Oppon Kyirebio Kyekyeku Ngetia Asuofri FRANCOPHONE SPELLING Adiomany Kira Prao Dabby Sekere Kouakou Kouame Kouadio Kouabenan Taki Akuo Yao Pone Kirebio Tchetchekou Nguetia Assuefry

In addition to the use of different orthographies for indigenous names Gyaman people were subjected to different educational systems and different languages of instruction. Socio-economic Development Colonialism led to economic and social development in Gyaman. Paper and coin currencies were introduced. These replaced traditional medium of exchange by cowries and gold dust. In French Gyaman, French Francs was introduced whereas in British Gyaman, the Pound Sterling replaced cowries and gold dust. Western imported manufactured goods also replaced locally manufactured ones. For example steel-ware and aluminium-ware bowls and cooking utensils replaced traditional earthenware bowls and cooking utensils. Increase in the demand for aluminium-ware cooking utensils led to the collapse of the pottery industry. Moreover, colonial rule introduced cash crop production. In British Gyaman cocoa was cultivated. Cocoa production led to the emergence of a new class of rich people outside the chiefly class. Opanin Kwadwo Kese, Kwadwo Fri, Addae Thomas all of Gyapekrom; Yaw Yeboah, Yaw Kra, Oppong Kwasi, Kofi Munufie, Kwasi Asante of Dwenem were notable cocoa farmers in British Gyaman. Cocoa Buying Firms including Cadbury and Fry, United African Company G. B. Olivant were stationed at Gyapekrom (Aforo, 2007). Cocoa Buying Firms employed Gyaman natives as cocoa Brokers who were itinerant cocoa buyers. Before 1960 retail trade was dominated by foreigners. Campagnie Francaise de LAfrique Occidentale (CFAO) and GB Olivant established retail supermarkets at Gyapekrom (Aforo, 2007). In French Gyaman cocoa production was also introduced. Migrant farmers attracted by the producers price of cocoa moved from Dawri, Suma-Ahenkro and Zezera in British Gyaman to acquire land in French

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Gyaman for the cultivation of cocoa. These settler farmers founded the Adiembra, Kassabi and Mantoukuo villages in Cote dIvoire. Assuefry traditions name Kofi Fofie, Kwaku Donkor, Kwabena Kra and Kwaku Yomaa as prominent cocoa farmers. Societe Commerciale de Louest Africain (SCOA) and CFAO engaged in cocoa buying as well as in retail trade in general merchandise. They employed people as acheteurs (it in crant cocoa buyers). SCOA and CFAO put up depots at Assuefry, Tanda, Transsoua and Bondoukou (Bene, 2007). Transport and communication systems were introduced to facilitate motor vehicle transportation. In British Gyaman the Berekum-Sampa, Wenchi-Sampa, Babianiha-Kwameprakrom, Gyapekrom-Kwamesiekrom roads were constructed whereas in French Gyaman the Assuefry-Gomere-Bondoukou, the Assuefry-Transsoua-Anyibilekro, Assuefry-Tanda roads were constructed to facilities the transportation of cocoa produce from the villages. Furthermore, Colonialism led to the introduction of modern health delivery. In British Gyaman modern health facilities were built. In 1949 the colonial government built two Dressing Stations (health centres) for the Drobo Division and the Suma-Kwatwoma Division. The Stations located at Drobo and Sampa were managed by the Native Authorities and manned by Africans (Gyaman natives). Dressing stations managed minor diseases such leprosy, yaws, sores, injuries, sleeping sickness etc. dressers acquired training at Kintampo Medical Doctors from Sunyani visited the stations periodically (every two weeks) to examine medical cases. Money realised from health delivery was deposited in the Native Treasury and part of it went to the Dressers as allowances and salaries. Dressing stations did not have maternity homes. Until 1950, maternity cases were handled by traditional midwives. Chiefs came into constant conflict with the Dressers especially when the former claimed free medical care. Nsowa Stephen and Nyamekye pioneered the manning of the Drobo Dressing station and the Sampa Dressing Station respectively (Nsowa, 2007). In French Gyaman Centres des Santes (health centres) were established at Transsoua, Assuefry, Tanda and Bondoukou in the 1940s, to cater for the healthcare needs of the Gyaman people. In the field of education, it was the Presbyterian Missionaries who took the lead in the establishment schools in British Gyaman. Between 1937 and 1942 they had established Infant Schools and Junior Schools at Gyapekrom, Suma-Ahenkro and Sampa (Aforo, 2007). In January, 1953 the Gyapekrom Presby Middle School was established with Rev. I. A. Amaning and Mr. Samuel Frank Assah Akuffo as a Manager and a Head teacher respectively (Presby School Log Book, 1953). The Roman Catholic Missionaries followed suit and by 1937 had established an Infant School and a Junior School at Kwasibuokrom. In 1949, they established the Kwasibuokrom-New Drobo Middle School (Aforo, 2007). However, in French Gyaman the Roman Catholic dominated missionary activities and the provision of educational facilities during the colonial era. In the 1940s they established Ecole Primaires (Primary Schools) at Assuefry, Bondoukou, Transsoua, Tanda and Kounfao. The Colonial Government established College dEnsiegnments General (C.E.G) at Bondoukou to offer University preparatory education to the indigenes.

Conclusions and Findings

In this paper, we have made attempts to discuss the early history of the Gyaman state. The paper has addressed how Gyaman underwent colonial domination and has also revealed how this ethnically homogenous state came to be divided among the two most powerful European imperialists of Britain and France while further discussing the effects of the split in the state on the people. The interplay of Anglo-French colonialism was responsible for the partition of the Gyaman state in 1898

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as a way of settling the Anglo-French rivalry. The partition was accomplished after the decmarcation of the Ghana-Cote dIvoire border from the littoral to the latitude nine degrees north. The border bisected the people, caused a diaspora and subsequently alienated people from their ancestral land. A contemporary prevailing circumstance of the partition is that Gyaman people of Ghana enstranged from their traditional head have remained divided along the lines of independent Traditional Areas. Today, the Ghanaian section of Gyaman assumes a balkanised territory characterised by a multiplicity of autonomous traditional areas namely: Drobo, Gyapekrom, Kwatwoma, Dwenem, Suma, and Sampa. Intrigues, identity crisis, petty jealousies and land disputes characterise their relationship. The wider Gyaman national identity is suppressed by sub-national identities to reflect the existing sovereign Traditional Areas. Sectionalism typifies local politics. Politicians exploit the rift between the chiefs to the advantage of their parochial interests. Consequently, it is difficult to present a common front directed towards a meaningful course of development of the area. If all Gyaman people had been corralled in a single state, they would have been populous enough to influence national politics of either country. The paucity of their number in each of the two countries undermines their ability to influence national politics in both Ghana and Cote dIvoire. They suffer inequality in the distribution of the national cake as typified by the deplorable socio-economic conditions in which they are injected today. Finally, this paper makes two major findings. First, it reveals that the partition of Gyaman was as a result of the French and British rivalry that found expression in their desire to take control of the Gyaman territory. Second, it brings to light that contrary to the general perception among scholars and academics that the French used direct rule and refused to recognise established chieftaincy institutions in their colonies, the Gyaman case was an exception. The Chieftaincy institution was recognised together with the customs and traditions associated with it. Indeed, it was integrated into the French colonial system. Colonial policies such as forced labour and forced taxation were executed through the village chief. However, the chief was not allowed to raise a native police force as it was practiced in British Gyaman. In British Gyaman, while the head chief was involved in the execution of colonial policies, the French Gyaman village chief was more involved than the Gyamanhene though the latter was the head chief and Paramount ruler of the Gyaman state.

References
1. Archival Documents from Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) (Sunyani), Ghana. ADM. RAO 2/14, File No. AL, 67800, 31 July 1945, A letter from the Gyamanhenes office, Bonduku, to the Asantehene and the CCA. Drobo Native Affairs. Public Records and Archives Administration Department (Hereafter, PRAAD) Sunyani. ADM. BRG 15, File No. 0025/85, 16 August 1945, A letter from E. G. Hawkensworth, the CCA to the Colonial Secretary. Drobo Native Affairs. PRAAD, Sunyani. ADM. ARG 1/2/11/3, Case No. 221/26, Jaman Division, 1910-1941, PRAAD, Sunyani ADM. BRG 1/2/51, Suma Native Affairs, PRAAD, Sunyani. Archival Documents from the Manhyia Archives, deposited at the Institute of African Studies, Kumasi, Ghana: MAG. 1/2/2/27, File No. No. 95/21/42, 27 January 1942, A Letter from Prempeh II to C. C. A. Manhyia Archives, Institute of African Studies, Kumasi (hereafter, IASK). MAG.7/2/42, File No. 25/36/32, 30 January 1942, A Letter from Kumawuhene Boamah Kwame Afram to Prempeh II. Manhyia Archives, IASK. MAG. 1/2/2/27, File No. 27/2/42, 2 February 1942, Asokorehene to Prempeh II. Manhyia Archives, IASK. MAG, 1/2/27, File No. 7/2/42, 29 January 1942, Nkwantahene Boakye Tromu to Prempeh II. Manhyia Archives, IASK. MAG. 1/2/27, File No. No 7/2/42, 31 January 1942, Kwamanhene Barima Aboagye to Prempeh II. Manhyia Archives, IASK. MAG. 1/2/27, File No. 21/42, 5 June, 1945, Letter fro, Kwame Adingra letter to the Asantehene. Manhyia Archives, IASK.

THE IMPACT OF COLONIAL RULE ON THE GYAMAN STATE

Official Records Brochure Assuefry: Des Atouts pour etre un Chief-lieu de Department Brong Gold Coast Chief List 1925-26 and 1934-1935. Log Book, 15/01/49 Drobo Junior High School Archives. Log Book, 13th January, 1953, Presby Junior High School Archives, Gyapekrom 2. Books and Journal Articles

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Bening, B. R. (1996). Ghana Regional Boundary and National Integration. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. Boahen, A. A. (1990). Africa and the Colonial Challenge. In A. A. Boahen (Ed), Africa under Colonial Domination 18801935. London: James Currey. Danquah, J. B. (1928). Gold Coast Akan Laws and Customs and the Akim Abuakwa Constitution. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd. . Ginio, R. (2002). French Colonial Reading of Ethnographic Research: The Case of the Desertion of the Abron King and Its Aftermath. Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 166, 337-357. Lawler, N. (1997). The Crossing of the Gyaman to the Cross of Lorraine: War Time Politics in West Africa, 1941-1942. African Affairs, 96(382). Terray, E. (1980). The Political Economy of the Abron Kingdom of Gyaman. Research Review, 12(1), 1-36.

Appendix (Oral Tradition)

Interview with chiefs and elders of Gyaman at various Gyaman towns both in Ghana (British Gyaman) and La Cte d'Ivoire (French Gyaman) Table A1 List of Interviewees by Towns (both in La Cote dIvoire and Ghana)
Name of Interviewee Nana Kwasi Adingra Agyeman Nana Adu Bibi II Nana Kwasi Adiko Nana Kwabena Konadu Nana Angamah Gyabaa Opanin Kwadwo Takyi Nana Abubakar Usman Aforo Kouassi Bene Mr Stephene Nsowa Age 67 81 73 70 63 71 78 57 42 Date 18/12/2006 18/07/2008 20/09/2007 10/12/2006 23/07/2007 14/07/2007 5/07/2007 21/02/2007 Town Amanvi, (Cote dIvoire) Bondoukou Assuefry Suma-Ahenkro Zezera Old Drobo Gyapekrom Assuefry Gyapekrom Occupation Farmer Farmer Farmer xxx Farmer Farmer Farmer Farmer Teacher Status Linguist Royal Ngwadahene (Royal) Paramount Chief of Suma Traditional Area Elder Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen