Eradicating widow inheritance: A comparative study of formal and informal representation of women in Ghana

For decades the practice of widow inheritance has disadvantaged many women in sub- Saharan Africa. This tradition mandates that a deceased man's wife, children and property be inherited by his brother or other male relative, with the exception of his father, resulting in the loss of the widow's right to her property and even her own physical being. In Ghana, several women in both formal and informal leadership roles, such as elected officials and Queen Mothers respectively, have been working together to not only outlaw this practice in state legislation, but also eradicate its oppressive traditional roots. However, it is questionable as to who is the better representative for women in Ghana, their female elected members of parliament or their culturally respected Queen Mothers. I begin by addressing the political theory of representation that I have applied to this case. Next, I will cover women's roles and status in Ghana, as the country developed through the pre- colonial, colonial, independence and postcolonial eras. For my case study, I take the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre ( the Gender Center), a non- governmental organization that is currently involved in the movement to outlaw the practice of widow inheritance. The Gender Centre, like many other of its partner organizations, has realized that the route to effecting social change is within the cultural leaders, and not state legislation. I illustrate this by giving the example of the failure of the law banning female genital cutting. Many Ghanaians still practice this tradition away from the public eye, despite its interdiction by state mandate, where the cultural and religious leaders consider it a necessary rite. This shows that cultural leaders sometimes have more authority than state mandate regarding which rules Ghanaians viii should follow. I then conclude that the Queen Mothers are more capable of representing women and influencing social change, in this case the outlawing of widow inheritance, than female officials elected to Parliament.