ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an examination of the relationship may explain certain consequences of local government change in Ahafo more helpfully than simple contrasts between 'tradition' and 'modernisation'. Ahafo is in the forested cocoa and timber producing region of western Ghana. The pattern of settlement, which has profound effects on indigenous political organisation, is typical of the forest regions of southern Ghana. The chapter deals with matters concerning the spiritual welfare of the community, land allocation and disputes of a minor and local nature. A plausible explanation might be that when the Management Committee members are frustrated in their efforts to adopt 'modern' procedures they lapse into 'traditional' styles of decision-making. The chapter focuses on the procedural problems of the new Local Council Management Committees in Ahafo and interprets these in terms of discontinuities between their composition and the manner in which they are expected to operate.
