sacral rule and the Christian Church: An ... - ResearchSpace

leadership vary from one society to another. Kingship, or Chieftaincy, is the term used
for the cultural manifestation of leadership in societies headed by an individual or a
group of persons. This is in contrast to acephalous societies where leadership is shared
among elders. Leadership is centralised or decentralised according to the culture of a
community. One of the structures human beings have created to facilitate collective
life, is a pyramidal organisation of society. At the top of the hierarchy of such societies,
there is a ruler whose power is believed to emanate from God. He may be a priest and,
therefore, controlling a theocratic society like the Ga in Ghana. Or, he may be a warrior
and administrator with some religious functions which legitimise his high position as
with the Akan in Ghana and with the Grassfields in Cameroon. The notion of sacral
rule is, therefore limited in this investigation to the latter kind ofleadership.
The organisation of people is the main concern of politics. Sacral rule is the
field for learning about African culture but even more for finding out about an African
style of government. Thus it is the common ground for cultural and political
investigation in Africa. The survival of traditional systems of government in modem
politics in Africa is a sign of the dynamic power of the authentic Mrican way of
organising people. This contribution to the socio-political and spiritual culture of
Mricans deserves our attention.
Ruling systems in Africa have spiritual connotations. Rulers and nobles are
religiously empowered by the sacral character of the African ruling system. The
religious practices and the spiritual experience which an African ruler undergoes and
undertakes when he is in authority, links his office to God and gives a theological
dimension to sacral rule. African kings claim their power from God. The success of
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