Abokobi — The Vatican City of Ghana

 
Abokobi, a community in the Greater Accra Region and the capital town of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, is unique and can be aptly described as the Vatican City of Ghana.

The Vatican City in Rome has its own way of governing itself, having nothing to do with Rome, in terms of authority, with the Pope as its leader, and Abokobi operates along similar lines of governance.

Authorities 
There are three authorities at Abokobi – The Church, representing the religious authority; the chief, representing the traditional authority; and the Municipal Chief Executive, representing the political authority. 

The district minister of the Presbyterian Church at Abokobi is the overall leader in the community. Chieftaincy at Abokobi is an extension of the church and so the Abokobi Mantse takes instructions from the leader of the church in the community. 

Chieftaincy at Abokobi
To become a chief of Abokobi, you must first be a Presbyterian and attain the position of a presbyter, a senior position in the Presbyterian Church. 

Uniquely, the chief of Abokobi does not perform libation at functions and is elected by the leadership of the church. He sits in the session of the church, which is its highest governing body, where important decisions are taken. He is not under any divisional chief or paramountcy. He, therefore, has nothing to do with the chieftaincy hierarchy and is not answerable to any traditional leader.

Another uniqueness of the Abokobi chieftaincy is the fact that it is not hereditary. Anybody can become a chief provided the one is a Presbyterian and more importantly a Presbyter. There is no palace and each chief operates from his house. The royal family of Abokobi is the Presbyterian Church, with the Linguist Stick of the Abokobi Chieftaincy being the Bible.

Apart from sitting in the Session in the church, the chief runs his own council known as the kooshie, where he adjudicates traditional issues with the assistance of his elders. Any member of the community who receives summons from the chief for any infraction and refuses to respond is made to appear before the church session.

Unlike other chiefs who have oversight of lands in their traditional areas and can, therefore, decide what to do with the land or who to sell the land to, at Abokobi, the land is vested in the church. Little wonder incidents of land guard clashes and terrorising do not exist at Abokobi.

Origin of Abokobi
Giving an insight into the Abokobi settlement, the MCE for Ga East Metropolis, Mr Kwao Sackey, said the community was founded by the Basel Missionaries in the 1800s and the settlers were basically converts of the Presbyterian Church.

“So all the early settlers were Presbyterians. That is why the chief of Abokobi does not perform libation. Indeed, the chief of Abokobi can perform everything that a presbyter can do. That is the uniqueness of Abokobi. I tell you, there is no place in the world like Abokobi,” he stressed.

He said the church owned the property of Abokobi, explaining that residents had to abide by some moral standards.

“You cannot live at Abokobi and go out, get drunk and come and misbehave in the town. If you want to live at Abokobi you have to abide by the rules and regulations of the church,” Mr Sackey added.

The MCE was proud that there was a high level of discipline in the community and attributed it to the influence of the church on the people.

The neatness of the community, Mr Sackey stressed, attested to the level of discipline (Presbyterian discipline) in that community, stressing, “You can hardly see someone littering the community or throwing away rubbish indiscriminately.”

Historically, he said the Danish slave routes from the Mountains to the Christianborg Castle passed through the Abokobi township, explaining that there were still some traits to confirm that, “and that is why I said Abokobi is unique in every sense of the word.”

“Indeed, Abokobi is the Presbyterian Church and the Church is Abokobi,” Mr Sackey emphasised.

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