(B) In which the consent of the parents and bride is essential and a payment of dowry and presents to the former are made. This form of marriage is conducted on the following lines: The suitor declares himself by sending two members of his family to the parents of the girl with a proposal of marriage. If the proposal be acceptable the emissaries return and the suitor then sends presents of rum, cloths, etc., the latter for the girl, after which he enters into negotiation with the parents as to the amount of the dowry he will have to pay for her. The gifts of rum and cloths constitute the betrothal and the suitor can thereafter claim either compensation for any liberties that other men may take with his fiancée or restitution of the dowry. After the various preliminary ceremonies have taken place (payment of dowry, etc.) the marriage is celebrated and in the evening the bride is taken by a female member of her family to the husband's room. (C) This form of betrothal takes place before the girl arrives at a marriageable age. This is done when a person desires to be connected with a family or a friend, or he desires that his child or relative be connected with a desirable family, or, again, when the future husband contracts with the parents of the prospective bride to perform some specific service in return for the daughter's hand when she arrives at the age of puberty. This form is, however, discountenanced, as it is often the direct cause of illicit intercourse by a girl who refuses to accept the husband. (D) This form of marriage arises when the parents in the first instance refuse to accept the suitor, and, secondly, in the case where the girl may be without a guardian and both parties reside together for a period exceeding twelve months; this is held by native custom to be a legal marriage. (E) Where the woman is merely a concubine. This form is terminable at will. (B), (C) and (D) can be terminated by the native tribunals, which also regulate the parties' rights as to custody of children, return of dowry and expenses, and damages from the co-respondent. 27. There are no special grounds for divorce, the mere decision of one of the parties to discontinue the union, often on the flimsiest grounds, being accepted as sufficient to warrant its being dissolved. Unfaithfulness on the part of the wife cannot be said to be of a damaging nature to her character, the paramour pays to the husband the adultery fee fixed by law and honour is satisfied. POLYGAMY. 28. Polygamy is general throughout the Mandated Sphere. In the north a man is noted for the number of wives he keeps, and in the south he may keep as many wives as he can afford, the average being two. The women usually have about six children. FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 29. A death is publicly announced by an outbreak of lamentations on the part of the women, who commit a variety of extravagances. Guns are fired to help the soul of the deceased heavenwards. The corpse is washed, attired in the best cloths, bedecked with ornaments and placed on the bed; the relatives of the deceased and the mourners then indulge in much drinking and dancing. The body is usually interred two days after death THE OATH. 30. The oath referred to on page 8, paragraph 15, of the 1923 Report, is an ancient custom amongst the Twi-speaking people of the Gold Coast and the Ewe-speaking people of the Southern Section of the British Sphere. The incident which originally gave rise to the oath may have been a victory achieved at a heavy cost, but it is usually inspired by a disaster which at some time befell the tribe, and often denotes the actual day on which, or place where, such disaster took place. For instance, the oath of the Ho Division, "Hoawo pe fie" ("The Evening of the Hos "), takes its origin from the Ashanti invasion of 1869, when, during the evening of the 25th June, the Ashanti Army, under General Adu Baffo, suddenly attacked the tribe and inflicted a crushing defeat on it with heavy casualties. This is the occasion referred to in paragraph 4 above. 31. Each of the numerous tribes in this Section have their particular oath, the most important at present in use derives its birth from the Ashanti invasion mentioned above. The oath is an essential attribute of an ancestral stool. The custom of swearing the oath against another individual is tantamount to summoning him before a particular Chief's tribunal. example : For "A" discovers "B" making a farm on his land, "A" informs "B" that he is trespassing; "B" in reply says the land belongs to him. "A" then swears his Chief's oath that the land is his; if B" considers he can substantiate his claim, he in reply also swears the oath of the particular Chief. The Chief whose oath is violated is then informed by the bystanders who also bring the parties before the Chief. The matter then comes before his tribunal, the losing party pays the oath fees and the expenses of the trial because he is adjudged as having "violated" the Chief's oath, i.e., he invoked it without just cause. Should the oath of a Chief on the Gold Coast be sworn in Togoland, the case is usually heard by the Chief in whose division it has been violated, but in this case the penalty is divided between the two Chiefs. 32. The most common and least significant oath consists in a person swearing by his or her own particular fetish, that he or she is innocent of an offence charged with. The tribal oath, of course, has nothing to do with this oath of affirmation made by pagan natives, when giving evidence in a Court of Law. ADMINISTRATION. 33. The British Mandatory Sphere of Togoland is administered by the Government of the Gold Coast, and on the 1st of April, 1924, was divided for administrative purposes into two Sections, namely, the Northern and the Southern Sections, the boundaries whereof are defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of the "British Sphere of Togoland Order in Council, 1923," referred to in paragraph 7 of this Report. 34. The Northern Section, which comprises the Districts of Eastern Dagomba, Kete-Kratchi (which includes Eastern Gonja), and the Togoland Sections of Kusasi and Southern Mamprusi, is administered as a part of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast; and the Southern Section, which comprises the Ho District, as a part of the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast Colony. This measure accords best with the geographical and ethnographical conditions as well as with administrative convenience, and has resulted in unifying tribes which were previously divided. The Sections are under the control of the Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories and the Commissioner of the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast Colony respectively, who receive their instructions from the Governor of the Gold Coast by whose authority the British Sphere is administered. The whole sphere is divided into the following five Administrative Districts: Kusasi District, Southern Mamprusi District, Kete-Kratchi District (which includes Eastern Gonja), 35. Each District is administered by a District Commissioner of the Gold Coast Political Service. The District Commissioners administering the Districts of Kusasi and Southern Mamprusi are directly responsible to the Provincial Commissioner of the Northern Province of the Northern Territories, and the District Commissioners administering the Eastern Dagomba, and KeteKratchi Districts to the Provincial Commissioner of the Southern Province of the Northern Territories. The District Commissioner administering the Ho District is responsible to the Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast Colony, and the Assistant District Commissioner administering the SubDistrict of Kpando is responsible to the District Commissioner at Ho. 36. The Political Department is staffed as follows: 5 District Commissioners, 1 Assistant District Commissioner, 10 2nd Division African Officers. The strength of the Staffs of the other Departments is furnished under the respective Heads. JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. 37. The Judicial Procedure follows that of the Gold Coast Colony and the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast. Proclamation No. 4 of 1923 (cf., Appendix A to last year's Report) is now revoked by the British Sphere of Togoland (Administration) Ordinance, 1924 (No. 1 of 1924), which became law as from the 1st of April, 1924, and is given in Appendix A hereto. 38. The Chief Commissioner's Court of the Northern Territories has jurisdiction throughout the Northern Section of the British Sphere. The Court is presided over by one of the following officers : The Chief Commissioner, The Deputy Chief Commissioner, The Circuit Judge of the Northern Territories, or Any fit and proper person the Governor or the Chief In civil matters the Court is guided by the laws in force in the Gold Coast Colony, as set forth in section 14 of the Supreme Court Ordinance of the Gold Coast Colony (Chapter 7 of the laws of the Colony), and in criminal matters by the Criminal Code (Chapter 16 of the laws of the Colony). In every criminal case. in which a sentence of imprisonment exceeding five years or a sentence of death has been passed, the notes of evidence taken at the trial, together with a report in writing signed by him, containing recommendations on the case, which he may think fit to make, is submitted by the President of the Court to the Governor of the Gold Coast, and before any such sentence can be carried into effect it must be confirmed by the Governor. 39. The Court of the District Commissioner in the Northern Section, when presided over by the Provincial Commissioner, has jurisdiction in civil matters up to £300, and in criminal matters to a term of one year's imprisonment with or without hard labour or a fine of £100; when presided over by the District Commissioner the Court has jurisdiction in civil matters up to £50, and in criminal cases to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine of £50. Decisions in the District Commissioner's Court are subject to review by the Chief Commissioner, to whom a return of criminal cases is submitted as soon as possible after the end of each month. 40. With respect to the Southern Section, the District Commissioner's Court has jurisdiction in civil matters up to £100 and in criminal matters to a term not exceeding one year's imprisonment with or without hard labour or a fine up to £100. Decisions from this Court are subject to review by the Chief Justice of the Gold Coast Colony, to whom a return of criminal cases is submitted as soon as possible after the end of each month. 41. The District Commissioner's Court, when formed by the Provincial or the Deputy Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Province of the Colony, exercises, with respect to the Southern Section, full jurisdiction to hear and determine summarily cases of the following offences (including attempts and conspiracies to commit the same, and abetments thereof) : (a) All offences under sections 173 and 174 of the Criminal Code of the Gold Coast Colony, (b) Manslaughter by negligence, under section 228 of the Criminal Code, in cases where, in the opinion of the Court, the offence is one which can be adequately dealt with by a sentence of imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding two years. All criminal cases exceeding this jurisdiction are committed for trial to the Assizes held at Accra in the Gold Coast Colony, or at such place as may be ordered by the Chief Justice of the Gold Coast. 42. Appeals, with respect to the Southern Section, are governed by Rules made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Colony in that behalf and for the time being in force. NATIVE ADMINISTRATION. 43. As provided in the British Sphere of Togoland Ordinance No. 1 of 1924, section 9, sub-section 1, Native Tribunals in the British Sphere are allowed to exercise the jurisdiction exercised by them immediately prior to the commencement of this Ordinance, and in a like manner to that in which such jurisdiction was at that time exercised as set forth in Appendix D of the 1921 Report,* with the following proviso : (a) A native tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear any case where any of the parties concerned is not a native of the British Sphere; (b) A native tribunal has no jurisdiction in any class of cases which the Governor may by an Order under his hand declare to be without the jurisdiction of a native tribunal, and any such Order may be general, or may be confined in its application to any particular native tribunal specified in such Order; and (c) No native tribunal shall enforce any judgment or Order by any barbarous or inhuman method or in any manner repugnant to natural justice; nor can any native tribunal impose as a penalty any pecuniary fine exceeding in amount £5. Native tribunals have no jurisdiction to try criminal cases. * Cmd. 1698. |