Author_ The Limits of Legal Intervention in Customary Practices: Understanding the Unpopularity of Ghana’s PNDC Law 111 on Intestate Succession among the Anlo and Asante

Author_ Victor Selorme GEDZI

Pages 99-125

Abstract_ This study analyzes the level of popularity among the Anlo and the Asante in Ghana of PNDC Law 111 on intestate inheritance. Reasons for the promulgation of Law 111 include the removal of laws that discriminate against women and children, determination of intestacy and substitution for legal practices on inheritance after death, and provision of a uniform intestate inheritance law that is nationally applicable. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research finds that a lack of education, awareness of the law, rights-consciousness, financial resources and enforcement of the law provides only a partial explanation of the unpopularity of PNDC Law 111. More important is that certain contextual realities confronting the Anlo and the Asante were not adequately considered when the law was being drafted. This makes the law appear to some as an imposition. As a result, many remain unwilling to give up cultural institutions of intestate inheritance that appear to benefit them. Thus, it appears ineffective to use legislation alone to change such cultural practices. These findings are significant as they highlight the relatively low levels of popularity and observance of Law 111 among the research population, and the challenges facing the law moving forward. This greater appreciation of these difficulties allows the study to suggest effective interventions.

Keywords_ Customary Law, Women’s Rights, Legal Pluralism, Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty, Africa, Widows, Inheritance.