Wow! What a great day today was. First of all I could sleep in a little bit. Second, today was court day at the Royale Palace so Edward and I left the house at 10AM to see the events. Let me say to start that, most of the pictures that are included are NOT mine. Pictures are not allowed in the Palace and I will not take pictures of in or around government buildings. That just seems like an international incident in the making. There may be included a couple of pictures of the outside the palace, of the Adrinka symbols decorating the fencing that are mine.
Some history of this Court, as I understand it. The Asantehene, or Ashanti King is not the president of Ghana but the king of the region and people where I am located. He has a beautiful palace in Kumasi and presides over and settle disputes for the people. I am quite sure he does a lot of other things also, but this one of his duties as king. Now, whether these settlements are legally binding per Ghana law, I don't know. He holds court two times a week, unless he cancels as in the case of this past Monday. Many of these disputes have to do with the deceased and their families. For instance, Edward told me he overheard one woman say their loved one had not been buried for 7 years because of a family dispute over land. Another woman was in some sort of problem with a 10 year old child who had not been buried. I did ask about where these people (the deceased) are and Edward assured me they are in a mortuary somewhere, hopefully on ice. But, imagine not being able to have the finality of burying or cremating your loved one because someone in the family (and this could be extended family) has some objection to a land claim or what ever.
We arrive about 10:30AM after the usual traffic in Kumasi. It is here I will tell the story of what I saw on the road to the palace. For those of you faint of heart or love animals, DO NOT READ! As we were driving through one section of town, I saw a man off to the left with the normal 'stuff' on his head, and then things over both his shoulders. Over his left shoulder, it looked like a dog. Indeed, it was a dog and as we passed him, I saw it was a dead dog. I asked Edward about this, thinking of Lewis and feeling sad for a few moments. This dog the man was carrying was dinner for him. Fortunately, breakfast had been a few hours earlier.
We arrive at the Palace and it is buzzing with activity. There are many cars in the car park and even more people milling around in the car park dressed in funeral clothes. Edward explains to me that there must be many disputes over the property or problems with the deceased, and this is traditional dress. We walk into the large open court yard in the palace grounds where we meet up with the nice gentleman we spoke with on Monday. He helps us get our own plastic chairs (for 50 pesowas each) and they are placed for us near an overhang. All around the yard are living areas for people built into the walls. The whole time we are there, there are women going in and out of some of them selling water, restocking, and back out. Edward had called the Queen Mother from Kyekyewere to meet us. She came in and we offered her a chair. This is a social event also and she was off to the meet and great with her friend at her side. She is a popular woman and knows many people in the crowd. Inside the court yard a mode of 'working the crowd', meeting people, chatting a few moments, seeing and being seen, then moving to the next person was going on. I even knew about 5 people there either from Kyekyewere or people I had met on my travels around town!
The Queen Mother had moved on to a more 'exclusive' area where we were not allowed. Probably an area for those who are close to the King. The Elder went along with her so Edward and I contented ourselves to relax in the chairs and watch the people. He has the advantage over me though as he can eavesdrop on the conversations and I can only people watch. But, I love the people watching. The variety of fabrics used, designs in the fabrics, how the men wrap themselves in the cloths, the women and their clothing, the shoes…it is absolutely fascinating to me to watch and see all that is going on. There must be maybe 3 yards of fabric that I would guess to be 60 inches wide that is wrapped around the men. Now, what you might ask is underneath? Let me tell you, I saw basketball shorts, hiking shorts, cargo shorts, regular shorts but my favorite was the middle aged man with the regular shorts low on his hips and the NIKE underwear band showing! The men then take the cloth, center it on their body about the back, take about 1/2 up the width on each arm and do this wrap thing that no matter how I studied the technique, I cannot explain, nor could I do. But, the outcome is most attractive. The black cloth may have gold designs in it, a lacy edge, Adinkra symbols woven in, so many possibilities. A fabric freak like me goes nuts in such a situation. There were a few men in shirts and ties and I recall seeing a suit or two but Western clothing was rare.
Through-out the crowd there were vendors selling wares. This is not obnoxious vendors selling 'stuff', but nice mannered women and men with water on their heads (in plastic bags about 500ml each) or gum, or ice cream, papers, hankies to wipe sweat (which is pouring off me), Mentos, and of course the calendar with the Asantehente's pictures all around the months. Didn't check if it was this years or on to 2011.
The crowd was calm respectful and by in large quiet spoken. There was the occasional greeting of two or three men who apparently hadn't seen each other in a while. Cell phones were quiet, there was an air of calm, of course it is a little difficult to get worked up in the heat or at least I think so. A couple of Chiefs came by our seats. You can tell a Chief or Nana at a formal occasion as many have their entourage and umbrella boy carrying a large umbrella over the Nana's head.
Some people behind us and to the right moved their chairs away. This spot was right by the entrance door, under the eves so if it rained we would be dry and the major bonus, out of the sun. Edward moved us there and it turned out to be a great spot. If I needed to see anything, I could just stand on my chair to look over the heads, as when the Asantehente came in. I sent Edward out to the car to get my overheated, two day old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was past noon and I was hungry. Travel tips: 1. always carry toilet paper and/or wet wipes and 2. always carry a PBJ or crackers or cheese or something to eat that will stick to your ribs.
As I was enjoying my lunch in the shade, in walks a man with a sheep. Sheep here don't have all the wool sheep at home do, thus my confusion on goats and sheep. About 5 minutes later another man comes in with a sheep, then another with 2 sheep. Then the guy with the case of booze. Edward explained this may be to pay off debts later. The sheep and alcohol go back into the area on the other side of the court yard. There seems to be a lot of commotion in the back, and a most of the people leave that area. All is quiet again and the crowed evens out. Then, the big moment.
The Asanatehete enters the court yard. This happens without any announcement so I am caught by surprise. I scramble up to stand in my chair and a nice gentleman comes over to me to tell me to watch for the umbrella. There are men in the procession carrying a stool, and the sword and some other gold relics. Then comes the King under a huge green umbrella and behind him the 5 guns we saw at the Palace on Saturday. There are a couple of army or police, but not many, walking along side. The King is seated under a roofed in area on a platform with petitioners in front of him. Proceedings begin, and from here out I don't understand all that is going on. I must confess though I did pick up the use of a couple of my Twi words and felt quite proud. One side presented their story, the other side their story. Each side may have 30 to 40 people with them to help tell the story. Multiply that by the numbers of cases that might be present or wanting to be heard. The King said something and there is a man who says 'yum' after every sentence the King says. I guess to tell us to listen up. This went on for about 45 minutes. I made faces at the baby in front of me, watched people, and tried to understand some of the words. Edward sensed my loss of interest and suggested we leave. I came away with the thought of, if one thinks the wheels of the US Court and Government move slow, come to Ghana and you will see a real court back up.
Outside the gates, there were vendors and people milling about. The car park was somewhat empty and no one had blocked us in. There was no organized parking there, so it could have been a possibility that we would have been blocked in by 1 or 2 or 3 or more cars.
So off we went, after seeing the King! What a beautiful day it was!
No comments:
Post a Comment