The Ohemaa of the Akan: Matrilineal Succession and the Political Power of Queen Mothers

Lede

The Ohemaa (plural ahemmaa; Twi pronunciation /ɔˈhɛːma/) is the female sovereign or queen mother of an Akan state, division, or town in present-day Ghana and eastern Côte d’Ivoire. Far from being a ceremonial consort, the Ohemaa is a co-ruler whose authority derives from the matrilineal abusua (clan) and whose stool constitutes one half of the dual-gender governance system. Her power includes nominating and destooling chiefs, adjudicating disputes, controlling lineage lands, and serving as the spiritual custodian of the royal ancestors.

This article examines the origins, political structures, succession mechanisms, legal authority, regalia, colonial encounters, and modern legacies of the Ohemaa institution.

Origins and Mythological Foundations

Akan oral traditions trace the origins of queen mothers to the founding ancestresses of the seven or eight matriclans. Each abusua claims descent from a common female ancestor, and the Ohemaa is understood as the living embodiment of that ancestress’s authority. In many state traditions, the first ruler was a woman who negotiated with the earth deity (Asase Yaa) for land and fertility.

‘The ohemaa is not made; she is born. The blood of the ancestress speaks through her, and the stool remembers.’ — paraphrase of an Akan stool elder, Institute of African Studies oral collection.

Myths of origin often pair a female founder with a male warrior or hunter, establishing the complementary principle of obaa na obarima (woman and man) that underpins Akan political philosophy.

Political Structure and Governance Systems

The Akan polity is a dual-sex system in which the Omanhene (male paramount chief) and the Ohemaa share sovereignty. The Ohemaa is not the chief’s wife; she is usually his mother, sister, aunt, or cousin from the royal matrilineage. She holds her own court, stool, and lands, and she is a full member of the Oman Council.

Complementary Offices

In the Asante Kingdom, the Asantehemaa occupies the Silver Stool and sits on the Asanteman Council, where her consent is required for major decisions, including war and peace.

Succession and Inheritance Mechanisms

Akan succession is matrilineal: a person belongs to the mother’s abusua, and political office, land, and movable property pass through the female line. A man’s heirs are his sister’s children, not his own biological children, who belong to their mother’s clan.

The Ohemaa’s Role in Royal Succession

• The Ohemaa is the custodian of the royal genealogy and the ‘owner’ of the stool.
• When a chief dies or is destooled, the Ohemaa convenes the royal lineage and nominates a candidate from eligible royals.
• Her nomination must be ratified by the council, but without her nomination no candidate can be enstooled.
• She can also initiate destoolment proceedings against a chief who violates ancestral law or abuses power.

This mechanism ensures that political legitimacy flows through the womb of the royal lineage, not merely through patrilineal descent or military might.

Gender Dynamics, Matriarchy, and Complementary Rule

The Ohemaa institution is often misread through Eurocentric lenses as either a ‘matriarchy’ in the sense of female domination or as a symbolic figurehead. Akan political thought instead emphasises complementarity: the male and female stools are distinct but interdependent, like the two halves of a calabash.

‘The hen also knows when it is dawn, but she allows the cock to announce it.’ — Akan proverb, often cited to explain the Ohemaa’s behind-the-scenes authority.

Scholars such as Agnes Aidoo and Kwame Arhin have shown that queen mothers exercised real power over taxation, land allocation, and the regulation of women’s economic activities, especially in market systems.

Legal Authority, Adjudication, and Law-Making

The Ohemaa presides over her own court, known in some Akan states as the Ohemaa’s court or mmaa asɛm (women’s matters). She adjudicates disputes involving marriage, divorce, inheritance, sexual offences, and market regulations. Her decisions can be appealed to the Omanhene’s court, but in practice her rulings carry significant weight because she controls lineage sanctions.

She also participates in the making of customary law (amanneɛ) by issuing decrees on moral conduct, funeral rites, and the protection of sacred groves and rivers.

Regalia, Symbols, and Royal Insignia

The Ohemaa’s authority is materialised in her regalia. She sits on a stool, often silver-plated or white, distinct from the blackened stools of male ancestors. She wears kente cloth, gold ornaments, and carries a ceremonial staff (poma) topped with a symbol of her clan or a proverb.

• Stool: the seat of her soul and office; never placed on the bare ground.
• Fly whisk: sign of judicial and spiritual authority.
• Gold sandals and headband: markers of royal status.
• Adinkra symbols: such as Gye Nyame (except God) and Obaa Pa (good woman) on cloth and court umbrellas.

Encounters with Colonial Powers and Resistance

British colonial rule in the Gold Coast (1874–1957) sought to codify Akan chieftaincy through indirect rule, often sidelining queen mothers by recognising only male chiefs in Native Authorities. Colonial records frequently misrepresented the Ohemaa as a ‘queen mother’ in the European sense of a dowager or king’s mother, obscuring her constitutional role.

Colonial Source Caveat

Missionary and colonial ethnographies, such as those by R.S. Rattray, remain valuable but must be read critically. They often translated Akan offices through European gender norms and underestimated the Ohemaa’s judicial and economic powers.

Despite colonial marginalisation, queen mothers resisted. The most famous example is Nana Yaa Asantewaa, Edwesohemaa, who in 1900 led the Asante war against British demands for the Golden Stool. Her mobilisation of the abusua networks demonstrated the latent military and political power of the Ohemaa office.

Legacy and Modern Political Influence

In contemporary Ghana, the Ohemaa institution has been revitalised. The 1992 Constitution recognises chiefs and traditional councils, and queen mothers have formed national and regional associations, including the Queen Mothers Association of Ghana. They advocate for girls’ education, maternal health, and land rights, and they mediate in chieftaincy disputes.

The current Asantehemaa, Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III (enstooled in 2017), exercises considerable influence in Asante affairs as of 2025, including the nomination of the Asantehene and the management of the Asante royal family’s properties.

Sources & Further Reading

• Aidoo, Agnes Akosua. ‘Asante Queen Mothers in Government and Politics in the Nineteenth Century.’ Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 9, no. 1 (1977): 1–13.
• Arhin, Kwame. ‘The Political and Military Roles of Akan Women.’ In Female and Male in West Africa, edited by Christine Oppong, 91–98. London: Allen & Unwin, 1983.
• McCaskie, T.C. State and Society in Pre-colonial Asante. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
• Rattray, R.S. Ashanti Law and Constitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1929. [Use with colonial source caveat.]
• Wilks, Ivor. Forests of Gold: Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1993.