Posuban Shrines

On Thursday I returned to the coast of Central Region for a couple of days visiting a few more of the ruined European forts. I reached Mankessim on the Accra – Cape Coast road just before noon. Mankessim seems like little more than a busy transport junction today, but it was the first capital of the Fante people and it is home to the most impressive posuban shrine in Ghana. Posubans were constructed by military companies called asafo, who were responsible for defending their towns. The posubans, unique to the central coastal area of Ghana, were originally used for storage of arms and company regalia and are now of mainly ceremonial use. They are generally highly and bizarrely decorated.

The Mankessim Posuban is tucked away on a quiet road a few hundred metres from the town centre. Three storeys high and adorned with a range of exotic figures and creatures, the posuban serves as a memorial to the founding fathers of Mankessim, a tribute to the gods and a series of symbolic pieces of advice. Don’t judge by outward appearance, be prepared, listen to well meaning people and do not take them for granted and so on.

I found jollof rice at the tro station and took a shared taxi on to Saltpond. The custodian wanted ten cedis to see the posuban there and although he quickly dropped to five, it was still too much and I moved on down the coast to Anomabu, home to a number of posubans and Fort William, one of the most complete remaining forts. I checked into the Hotel Mariesabelle and found I was sharing it with a contingent of students from the Department of Architecture and Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. They were down to do a couple of days’ work at Fort William.

Friday was Independence Day (Ghana’s 52nd birthday) and I started with a short ride to Cape Coast to see the regional parade and march past. The salute was taken by Ms Ama Benyiwa Doe, the new NDC regional minister. When the parade was over I browsed for a while in the Black Star Bookshop. A TV in the corner was showing the president’s address at the main celebration in Accra. I had lunch overlooking the sea at the Castle Restaurant and then bumped into VSO volunteers Eddie, Behi and Paulo at a nearby coffee shop. While they had lunch, I took a taxi back up the coast to see Fort Nassau in Moree. The first Dutch fort in Ghana (1612) and built with Dutch bricks, what little is left has now been taken over by fish ovens and easily excited children. The views along the coast paid off the walk.

On Saturday the custodian at Fort William showed me a couple of the posubans in Anomabu, including one shaped like a large scale model of a European style war ship. I then walked east along the coast road to Fort Amsterdam at Abanze. Despite the name, this was actually the first British fort built on the coast (1631). It is now a substantial ruin with a prominent location. I picked a tro back to Mankessim. When the onward tro to Swedru lost power completely and gently glided to a halt, the driver carried out temporary repairs using the unwound metal ring from the ignition key. This turned out to be very temporary indeed as we stopped again a few metres on, but fortunately near enough to a roadside mechanic’s stall.