HEALING AND THE SP~CIAL POSITION
OF Till:

',70W&:NOF TH.1l CHURCH OF

"NYAMESOM PAll

(ElCWAM)

BY

BRIGIDSAC~

A.1though statistical

data on members of African Independent

,::'-;

churches or Spiritual

1

Churches

in general are lacking,

every

researcher

on these churches cannot overlook the overwhelming

preponderance of womenparticipants

(perhaps about

two-thirds

percent on the average)
churches. 2

in the religious

and social

life

of these

Remarkably, notwithstanding

the overwhelmingly large proportion

of womenin spiritual

churches,

even in those churches founded by

women,3 positions

of authority

are usually

occupied by men.

In

other notably well established

Spiritual

Churches, ego in the

Church of the Twelve Apostles

lIalthough Grace Tanni was really

the mOving spirit

(John) Nackabah was more prominently in the

public

ey~r••Lf. Hannah Barnes of the MusamaDisco Christo Church,

co-leader

and wif e of the Prophet J emisimiham Jehu APpiah, who

was even tw~ce lIassumedi' into heaven still

takes a step behind

as Queenmother with absolute

authority

over the

the prophet-king

S
women.

Elsewhere womenin spiritual

,.

churches ego in Rhodesia
6

occupy "the lowest

rank in the church;'.

Nowturning to "The Church of NyamesomPalt, also known as

the Church of Ekwam,7 a reversed order

in the rank of womenin

85.

striking.

In this church,

founded by a male.

leadership

and authority

of the church are placed in the hands of nine women, "Nkombyefo"

(loosely translated

as prophetesses),

thus entrusting

them with

the sole power to heal by employing the unique Ekwammethod of

"silent Meditation and Telepathy",

8

and to manage all

affairs

concerning the church and the whole community. These womenreign

supreme over and above the other members including the men.

Another striking

feature

of this church is the practice

of

patrilineal

inheritance9

amongthe almost entirely matrilineal

Fante - AlcanEkwarncommunity. Patrilineal

inheritance system,

according' to the Church of Ekwarn,is said to be more beneficial

to womenbecause it obliges

fathers

to be more.responsible

for

their

children,

thus making them more worthy of their

claim to

paternity.

There are Illa.11y other characteristics

ego theperculiar

music

and dance, and the harmonious communalIif e which distinguish

the Churoh of EkWarnfrom other spiritual

churches • .' However, this

paperooncentrates

on the special position

of womenand healing

which I consider the most striking

features

of this

spiritual

church.

The first

pertinent

question that comes to mind is. wflether

there are no men to f~ll

th

e

h" h
2g posi 20ns as is usually the c~e;

t"

.

or womenoccupy the highest

ranking position because Eb~arnwishes

86.

to remodel spiritual churches into a more democratic institution.
whereby majority rule is ensured?
Or is it a move just to portray
the church's uniqueness in contradistinction to the other spiritual
Or perhaps the contention that women join such organi-
churches?
sations to seek for high posts9b wbich are otherwise denied them
in the wider male-dominated society is being given credence?
Or
should the preponderance of women and their leadership position
in this church simply be seen as part of the general wave of :'female
emancipation"?
Perhaps an examination of the history and organi-
sation of the Church of Skwam will help clarify these conjectures.

HISTORY OF THE:CHURCH OF EKWAM

The Church of lINyamesomPa", popularly called Ekwam by its

He is about

adherents, was founded by a man called Kobina Ekwam, a Fante - Akan
from GomOa Fete in the Central Region of Ghana.
68 years old, illiterate and a blacksmith by occupation.
Ekwam
broke away from the Methodist Church, because he simply became
dissatisfied with the form of worship in the church, and joined
the Church of the Twelve Apostles.
While at the Church of the
Twelve Apostles, Ekwam had a vision in which God promised him a
special gift if he would stay indoors, abstain alcohol and sexual
relations.
After eighteen months of seclusion, ';odtaught him how
to heal by aSilent Meditation and TEilepathy" which'~Ekwamians:t

I

10

(members of Ekwam)explain to be the ability

of detectin,g- and

treating

sickness

instantly

by just

looking straight

into the eyes

of the patient

and breathing

heavily on him. While he Was in

seclusion,

his three wives left because they felt

neglected.

Later

he married two other women.

Having gained this

special

gift,

Ekwamseceded from the 8hurch

of the Twelve Apostles at Nsuobir and gathered his own followers.

The Church of the Twelve Apostles

supposedly became envious of the

wonders Ekwamwas performing and its members mounted acts of

hostility

against him. Consequently, he left Nsuobir with his

followers

and came to his hometown, GomoaFete.

After

four years'

stay here,

they were compelled to move to Senya Breku" because

Ekwamwas becoming too famous1l !.From:..S-enyaBreku, Ekwamand his

group movedto GomoaOkyereko where theY' stayed for almost

two

years after which they moved to Pokuase,

in the Eastern Region of

Ghana, the last

station

before they finally

came to their

present

settlement

in Gomoaland, which was named after Ekwamas Gomoa

Ekwamkuromin 1975. Their wanderings and resettlement

in

Gomoaland make them compare themselves with the Israelites

and

thus are a kind of a "chosen people". 11

The EkwamChurch which supposedly has been in existence

since 1960 was practically

unknown to the greater

part of the

public until

it came to situate

itself

in 1975 at GomoaEkwam_

kurom, a new settlement

about 35km from .Accra, on the Accra-Vlinneba road.

88.

Unlike tho m~d or wooden structures which harbour most

village

spiritua16hurches

in G-hana~Ekwamboasts of modern,

solid cement~ concrete buildings

in which the founder, Ekwam,

his two wives and families ~ nine 1I1\J1comhyefo:'and their

families

and tha full-time members of the church live.

The sick who come

for healing take shelter

under an equally solid and huge concrete

shed which also serves as the 'place of action'

during healing

services.

Adjacent

to this big shed is a smaller shed where the

"Nkomhyefo"and a certain

category of memberssit during the service.

There are many more buildings under construction.

These

include a school and a storey building for the founder, Ekwam.
The buildings

fromSolomon, a building

are supposedly agif't

contractor, who is also a member.of the church~ to the Ekwam

community primarily

as a si,:gnof

;~.a.titudefor

receiving

healin:s

and secondly,

in fulfilm~ntof

the founder's vis'ion. However,

there

is a rumour that

.
G-eneral 10K. Acheampongwho, when he was the Head of state

these buildings weref irianced by the late

of

Ghana, was a part-time memberof Ekwam. TheEkwamvillage

again

excels OVerthe other Gomoavillages

as well as other ~illage

spiritual

churches because of its .electricity

plant.' water pumps

have also been installed

for the supply of good di-irikihg water

to the Ekwamcommunity.

~:

The b~ic principles

of the 'Ekwamian' church, which resembles

that of the Holy A.postles of Aiyetoro, Nigeria,

.-
is to live a communal,

harmonious and exarnplary life,12

and to practise

brotherly

love.

Thus the Ekwamgreeting:

;'mema wo odo" meaning: ("I give you love")

with the reply: 1I0nuado" (librotherly

love").

"Ekwamians"believe

in one God, the Creator of the Universe and

condemntraditional

belief

in the local deities

as idolatry.

Jesus

Christ

is recognised as the SOn of God, the Creator, but does not

feature

in their doctrines.

It

seems the position

of Jesus Christ

has been taken overby Father Ekwambecause it

is only to Father

Ekwamthat Godreveals himself. He is the only mediator between

God and t he rest of the Ekwamcomnunity.

The UGlySpirit,

on the other hand', is a more 'versatile'

phenomenonwhich can reveal

itself

in dreams and visions

to ~JY

of the Ekwammembers. During healing by "Silent Meditation and

Telepathy",

the Holy Spirit manifests

itself

as the potent but

invisible

'breath'

that

is transmitted

by the possessed prophetesses

and d'isqiplesto

the sick.

But 11D.likethe Holy Apostles of Aiyetoro who stress

"constant

pra,yer and toill113 Ekwamiansbasically
Bible even thoug-hthey can refer

do not pra,y, nor Use the

to biblical

pasSages to support

their

arguments. To them pra,yer is not necessary since they can

communicate with the spirit

directly

anytime and anywhere at will;

90.

,

standing' or sitting,

.

and in a twinkle of an eye

awe just meditate,

..

,'

all

that we want is revealed to us",

explained disciple Haruna.

Furt'her, Ekwamianssee no need for prayers because :'Our father

Ekv,.amls~not an ordinary humanbaing but
God. has ~a.i.d. that getting to the end of times He (God) will change

:}od's Spirit

because

himself

into a man and dwell amongmen, and this man is undoubtedly

Ekwam.1t• Kobina Ekwamis postulated

..

as the verification

of their

esch~tot6gical

and messianic expectation.

Solomon's wife

testified;

:'Fbrmerly one could buy a whole big basket of fish

for 3 pesewas, now only one fish coats 10 cedis (100 p~sewas is

e<lual to 1 cedi) a.nd so God bas sent our Father Ekwamto save us.

HIERARCHY:

.

KobinaEkwam, the founder the spiritual

head of the church,

is referred

to as Father

and all

the membersare brothers

and

sisters.

Fath~r:8kwam, who :Lsregarded as the cornerstone of

the church, can be likened to an :lotiosus:t who, after having

..

satisfactorily

gathered enou.ghflock;

...

,

has withdrawn and handed

over the l'eEl.dership and Ilk'l.nagemGntof the church into the hands
of nine "NkOIt1.hYefoilor prophetesses,

the hi,Q,'hestrank after

the

\

~:''-

,. ',-

"

-

founder.

Like prophetesses

in other spiritual

churches their main

functions

are to diagnose and heal ailments of supplicants,

foretell

...

the future,

,'

,

.

and interpret

c",

,':.

_

rf_-"-

i '"', ~_ "

dreams and visions.

'J-

They are

also responsible for the upkeep of the whole Ekwamcommunity.

These prophetesses did not undergo any formal

training

nor did

they perform any wonders to merit

their

selection.

Their selection

was effected entirely by Father Ekwarnthroug'h div ine inspiration.
They are simple womenbetween the ages of 35 and 62. There is no

visible

sign of their office

in the form of uniform or any other

religious

insignia

as exists

in other churches, except

that all

the

nine have been renamed with Islamic and biblical

names. Children

born in Ekwamchurch and a few other memberslike Solomon who,have

distinguished

themselves in duty to the church are also given

"heavenly;! names.14

The Senior Prophetess

(in age) presides OVerall

the meetings

and discussions on Church matters as well as affairs

concerning

the whole community. Otherwise, all prophetesses have equal

opportunities.

Supplicants who come to Ekwamare attended to by

the first

prophetess they encounter.

Each prophetess enjoys a

free two-roomed acoornmodationin the new buildings.

The nine

prophetesses had been living and working harmoniously together

for eight years at

the time of study. This ma.r be attributed

to the fact

that most of tHe womenhave to live and cOp'ewith

rivals

in polygynousmarriciges 15 and have learnt

to be tolerant

and cooperative.

Thepeaceftrlrerationship

amongthe prophetesses

may also be partly due to the rigorous disciplinary measures against

92

infringement of the moral code of behaviour existing at Ekwam.16

Unlike other spiritual

churches, especially those in South

Africa, where the wife of the leader pla,ys an indispensable

role

during ordinations17

especially
prophetess or pla,ys any significant
of the founder they are given due respect but

none of Ekwam'swives is a

role in the church. As wives

they observe their

limitations

in the affairs

of the church as Father Ekwamdemands.

"ESUAFO"

(DISCIPLES)

The next most important rank in the Ekwamhierarchy is the

discipleship

composedof young womenand a few menwho have been

set aside as potential

prophets. According to the prophetesses,

Father Ekwamdoes not want to restrict

the gift of healing and

prophecy solely to himself or to a selected group. He believes

every mlillanbeing is capable of utilising

this gift which is

hidden in every person should he be led on the .right path Le.

the path to Ekwam. WhenFather Ekwamor any of theProphetessess

comes in contact with any person he can easily detect whether

that person possesses what Ekwamcalls

IIdeveloped spirit:t-Le.

a hidden spiritual

voices and heal.

Such a person is asked to join

the disciples

in order to develop his powers.further.

No specific

training for a disciple

to the rank of ~rophet

is required.

The power to becmlle "fully developedll

is determined

by Father Ekwamwho acts on God's guidance.

93.

MiliMB illSHIP

There are two types of membership:.

1. First

there

are part.;..time members who live outside

the dh@dhpremisesbut

pay regular visits with

their

sickness,

problems or sometimes come for

"spiritual

strengthening",

to use th~lilkw.amterm..

Then the ftil1!..:i.Umem~mbers, who like

the part-time

'members, came toBkwariiinitially

with various

'sioknesses

such as stomachadhej' headache, yaws,

heart diseases,

ster~lity,

addiction to drugs,

psychosomatic ailments

etc. Others also came to

Ekwambecause they had a general propensity

towards

misfortune

ego decline

in business progres's~

unemployment, unstablEfmarriages

etc.

In the course of treatment

some of these people were found to

have "developed spirit:!'

arid were consequently asked to stay as

full-time membersand reriderbeneffcial

....

servi~es

to others.

These

include all

the prophetesses

and the disciples

and others who live

permanently in the Ekwamtownship. Most of these are traders,

fisher-folks,

farmers

and office

employees, som~ of whomwork in

..

Accra, Winneba and nearby villages.

These workers comte

daily

from Ekwam-kuromto their

respective

places of work. While some

members occupy themselves with crop-farming on the vast Ekwamfarms,

others participate

in charcoal production and the rest help with

the building construction

being undertaken in the 8kwamtownship.

One of the stringent

regulations

regarding' full-time Ekwam

membership is either

the total

r,ejection of family affiliations,

or assimilation

of all

family members into the Jillcwamcommunity.

This is supposed to be a measure to prevent

latero vi~ti,tsc to fClJIlily

functions

for fear

that

their membersmight revert

to what Ekwam

calls

IIidolatry", manif est ed especially

in rituals

at family

reunions and t~8.ditional

...

I'

i~stivals.

This stipulation

has won

Eki'lamthe popular Fante nickname,:

"wo na wua, ennko; w'egya wua,

ennko;t (approximately meaning: one should not participate

in the

funeral

celebrations

of family relations) which seems to spell out

the disapproval of outsiders

a5ainst

the Church's anti-traditional

sentiments.

Contrary to another outside view that Ekwamcoercively recruits

his followers

through threats,

the full-time membersclaim that

they

..

have abandoned.their

lineage (Ebusua) membership, and ha.ve surren-

dered themselves to father Ekwamfreely i1becausewe cannot thank

him enough for what he has done for us". This statement, which

presupposes gratitude

as a reason for

joining the Church of Ekwam,

seems to be in contradiotion

to most of the testimonies,

especially

of the feIl1c1.lemembers. Certainly,

.;.-

some joined without cq!llpulation

because they had achieved positive

results

in healing,

finding a

job and securing good marriage, etc. But from most of the

testimonies

of the Ekwamians, it could be deducted that

a large

number of them reluctantly

joined the church after

initially

rejectin~

the call of Ekwam,returning

retribution

in the form 0
f

only after
. k
18

s~c ness.

having experienced

some

SPECIAL..'PATRON'SOLOMON

The disciple Solomon enjoys the title

Patron and is undoubtedly

the most important man next

to father Ekwam. After Ekwamhad seceded

from the Churoh of the Twelve Apostles
that someone would come and build a town for him and his
to the glory of God. Solomon, the 42-yeax-old building

at Nsouobir, he dreamt

followers

contractor,

came from his home town, Abiriw-Akwapim to see Ekwam,then at

Pokuase with a heaxt disease.

Solomon claims to have been healed

within seven das-s but spent

three months at Pokuase with Ekwamin

order

to be sure there would be no recurrence

of his disease.

After assuring himself of complete re.overy,

he returned

to

Akwap.i.mand brought his pregnant wife, who had lost many children

at previous deliveries

to Ekwam. This time she delivered

safely.

Then she conceived two more times at Ekwamso he decided to stas-

there with his family for ever. One das- he made it known to father
1!lkwaJll his plan to build

the patients,

but Ekwam

a shelter

for

refused;

"because the time is not

ripe; Pokuase is not

the place

God has chosen for us". Nevertheless,

Solomon went ahead with

his plans, but half was-through God instruct

ed them to leave for

96.

GomoaEkwam-kurom. There Solomon began erecting modern buildings

with the labotlr'cif

the full-time' members. Since he came to Ekwam

•......

his
job as a contract or has been progress in,g immensely and he is
eyen pontemplating' m6'vin;g.his 'A'~6ra;burka'Uto Gomoa~wam-kurom.

At presont,

he has 300 employees, most of them members of Ekwa.TIl.

So.],omontravels

evef:y morning- to l\.ccra retur:i1ing in the evening

to Bkwam-kuromto lead a family and conurnmity life.

According

to Solomon sickness brought him tbEkwam but one of the prophetesses

claims that Solomon is an !'UncrOvmedprophetttwith

'money'to boost

up the

economic aspects

of the' :churchwhilst~arri

i~:;~ proph~t

with the.';'ho,ly ha.'1.d"to heal.

Thj

twb 'were allegedly

joined

togethe:r:;byGod to promote His work 'on eaXth~

From obsdrvation, methods of healing in spiritual

churches

vary frOm' chu::rch'to church. Yet

there

are certain methods whiqh,

~. ,--,

-i

'"

.'

are commont-6 all.

.

'

Some of these

are:

healing through pra,yers

healing by imposition

of hands,

rubbing or massaging

the ailing

part of the body,

healing by means of drinking

or washing with

blessed

cold water,

91 •.

-

healing by employing the church's

sn.crod objocts

like

the bible,

crucifix,

candles, handkerchiefs

etc.

- healing through dancin.go

Five distinctive

healing methods were observed at

tho Church

of Ekwam.

Healing by lIsilent meditation and telepathytl which has boon

explained to be tho ability

to detect and treat

sickness

instantly

by looking straight

into the eyes of the patient

and breathm:;

heavily on him. This style of healing is claimed to be a uniqueness

of Ekwamcrmrch. From the explanation given it could be presumed

that

IIsilent meditation and telepathy"

is a Wa3 of expressing the

clairvoyant

ability

of the membersof the church.

I am further

inclined to presume that

the USe of breath is not all

that new

in African traditional

religion because Idowu writes that

the

machinations of witches to poison their victims

is through oral

means, either by W83of breathing or through bodily contact .19

Similarly, Ekwamiansbelieve the breath to signify medicine,

through which the healing power is transmitted

invisibly

to the

patient.

Healing with ordinary, not blessed,

cold water. Here the

supplicant

is asked to drink or wash with cold water or USe it as

enema. There are claims that eVen pregnancy has been effected

without sexual relations

but

through drinking only cold water.

98,

Healing by me~ns of a special heavenly-inspired

dance c11led

"Hine". This is a round dance where the adults

form one big circlo

with children forming the inner cere of the circle.

There is a

rhythmic stamping of feet

and sWB3ingof the bod,yto simple melodies

unaccompanied by <my kind of musical

instruments.

The patient must

dance vigorously end unceasingly till

he is exhausted,

j1ist"like

in traditional medicine lithe sick ID83be denied rest

and quiet

for

th€l simple reason that

the causative

agents (disease

aemons) must

be allowed no peace."

20

Healing by means of visionary'

operations'.

Here the patient

often dreams she is being surgioally

operated upon either by

Father &wam himself, by one of the prophetess or by angels,

and

awakes actually

healed.

Another method of healing mB3be described as 'telepathic'

or

'distant'

healing.

This form of healing was applied to the

18 month-old son of Solomon, the contractor

of the Ekwamcomplex.

Acoording to Solomon's wife,

the ohild hadbeen._suf.feringfr,~-

oonvulsion and Father &wamhad warned her that

the ohild W'ould

only be healed if' he is not seen and touohed by the parents Tor

at

least

6 months. At the time of study the child had. been irithe

oare of a womanmemberof the church for about eleven woeks and

anytime the parents oaught a glimpse of him the sickness 'would L

intensify.

99.•

AS already indicated the church of Bkwamis not an 'Aladura'

(prayer) group and therefore

their healing is devoid of pra.yers and

scripture

readings or sermons. The usual wooden crucifix which

denotes the existence of a spiritual

church is missing in EkWalll

Church. There is no altar or any sacred object.

There is no

imposition

of hands or any form of body contact between the

healer and the sick.

In most spiritual

churches visited

in Ghana, Friday is set

aside for healin:s but

the church of EkWB.m stands out again in

substituting Tuesda({as the major day of healing.

Tuesda({may

have simply been chosen because it is a day on which the inhabitants

of Gomoado not go fishing.

Tuesday also gives casual supplicants

who att end other spiritual churches on Fridays the opportunity to

attend the healing service of Ekwam. It is not unusual

to see

Moslemsalso soliciting

for help at

the Church of Ekwam,.

HillALIN} SERVICE PROCEDURE

Although there is no fixed time for

the beginning and end of a

healing service it

follows an orderly procedure. The nine prophe-

tesses,

the disciples

and the full-time memberstake their

seats

under the small shed, while the part-time memberswith the new and

old help-seekers

are placed together under the big shed. The

new comers are 'spiritually'

assessed and those .t:oundto be 'spiri-

tually developed' are honoured to take their

seat amongthe disciples.

100.

Woodenbenches are provided for

those under the big shed whil~ the

prophetesses

and womendisciples

only are. privileged

to sit on

Akan stools.

Then the "Dawurbo" (announcements) begin with the Ekwam

greetings.!

brotherly

lovaby a womandisciple.

The "Dawurbo!l

cOAsistmainlyof

instrUctions

onoomITlnal bygienaand'discipline.

,.

it each service the assembly is not only cautioned against

insanitary

practioes

such as the throwing of garbage,

spitting

and urinating

indisoriminately

on the Ekwamcompound,but; is also eduoated on

the measures to prevent

such aots.

Twobig rubbish pans and two

toilets

are provided whioh the visitors

to Ebvammust use.

Non-oomplieance with these rules

results

in punishment bY'"

father Ekwamwho, though no longer, participates

in the servioe'

is

supposed to link with them in spirit

from wherever he 'may be due

to this olairvoyance.

The disciple

ends by wishing' all

the supplicants

a 'good healing'

after which foll0ws a series of songs by the choir. Most of these

songs are in the Fante language and are belieVed to be inspired

and taught

through angelio visivns.

They are very different

from the usual spiritual

church melodies

and are much in praise 6f, and supplication

to,

father Ekwam.Eelow

are some ofth~ songs:

"m'egya Ekwamh1I. me mbobor
m'egya Ekwamfi
Nya no ho hia no fi

sor reba

sor reba"

101.

Translat ion:

~~ father Ekwamhave mercy on me
N"1Yfather Ekwamis comin; from above
The worthy cne is coming from above

(2) Sung in English:

God sentJ:kwam to carry bad thing'S awas
And to give bread to our nation
Cometo Ekwam,Ekwamis free
Ekwamnever dies.

Someof the disciples

and the prophetesses

dance around the sic!::

who have gathere:i

,in .the perimeter:'ofthe

'bompoundin the middle of

which is a wooden:~hite pole,' a substitution

for

the usual cross

seen

in most spiritual

churches. After some time the sing-in,g and danoin3'

are replaced by shouting and shrieking with the prophetesses

and

disciples

going round and round particular

persons breathing heavily

on them several

times with terrifying

grimaces.

These grimaces

have been explained as capable of frightening'

awaJ' demons.21 Disciple

Salifu explained this behaviour of the Ekwamiansto be spirit

posse-

ssion, with the facial

expression signifying

the release

of spiritual

medicine which is invisibly

transmitted

to the patient:

''This metho,1

of healing is called silent meditation and telepathy because we

do not

talk to the people to find out who is sick or what. Whenwe

get

the spirit we can see throug-h the inside of every person just

as if we are watching television

and all his problems can be read. "

After

this

everybody retires

under the sheds and the period of

consultation

begins.

During the period of consultation, which itself

is also a form

of healing', each of the nine prophetesses

takes her place in a

suitable

corner under the big shed, and new comers are directed

in

102.

turn by disciples.

Each patient

is stared straight

in the eyes for

a few moments. Then without

the patient

sa,)'ing anything the

prophetess

starts

uttering

something inaudible to him which is said

to be the dignosis of the patient's

problems.

After

the consultation

some of the sick are sent

to drink

water which stands on the compoundin a big container.

Others are

asked to wash themselves with water only in the bathroom provided.

Enemaswith water are also prescribed for some of them. Others are

asked to go homeand prepare to comeand sta,)' at Ekwarnfor treatment.

Those with contagious diseases

are sent

to confinement at a part of

the Ekwamvillage named tlTufoantse" which also partly harbours

those with psych:~.tr ic problems as well as those who have infringed

the moral code of the community.

The service ends with senior prophetess Abebabreathing heavily

several

times on all

the assembled who now gather

in the centre

of the compound. This last breathing is known 8S the tlctving of

the Spiritual Cross", a benediction through which spiritual

power for protecticn

against evil spirits

is transmitted

to all

the assembled.

THE SPECIAL POSITION m' WOM8N IN THE CHURCH OF EKWAM

The special position

of the womenof Ekwamis seen in their

occupation of the highest post of prophetess

in the one stream

formal hierarchy.

They are the supreme overlords of the church

and the whole community. They do not

lord only over the women

103.

membersbut also 'wer the men. There are nine prophetesses

and

n~ prophet.

The discipleship

consists

almost entirely

of women(212) and

a handful of men(18).

and quarantine)

The head of "Tufoantse.1

(the Ekwamasylum
is the niece22 of Father Ekwamand the farm project

supervisor

is a womandisciple.

During healing service only women

(prophetess

and disciples) may sit on Akan stools.

The pre-eminence

of womenOVermendoes not exist only in the religious

sector but

extends to the social

sphere as well and to all womenfull-time

members. While the womenare privileged

to live in the comfortable

solid houses with their

children,

their husbands and. other men

occupy the o~d, mudhuts behind the new buildings

and pay nightly

V1Sl s

" "t

t

0

th"

23
elr W1Ves.

"

In the light of these privileges,

one may be inclined to

affirm the contention that

:'opportunities

for womenin independent

churches are far more important
womenare in the majority therea24•

to them••• that

is one reason why

I wish to examine how far

this

contention is true for

the Bkwa..'1lwomen. First

of all,

it has been

observed that church-going is almost specifically

a female acti~ity25

and this

is also the case in Ghana as seen in the spiritual

churches.

Rev. Brother Yeboa-Korrie of Feden Revival Church seemed to have th~

answer to this phenomenonin a personal

interview:

"People on the

whole attend Spiritual Churches when they have problems which they

feel

they cannot solve. Womenhave more problems than men. Be3ause

of the nature of their heart,

they cannot forget

easily and they

have time to think about

their problems especially

those concerning

104.

their womb." Also womenlook for "liberation

from the ever-present

f eax of witchcraft,

from the dut ies and t ensions of the home, from

the domination of men over women,from the burden of traditional

customs aIldinnumerable taboos,

from the threat

of death and disease

of their

children.

Liberation

in fact

from everything that oppressed

them ••• "26 in spiritual

churches.

I quite agree with Perrin Jassy except for

the statement

relat

ing to "the liberat

ion from the dominat ion of men over women!!.

This presupposes a desire

for

female emancipation as a reaSon for

joining these churches, a view also raised by Martin 'Hest.

In my

opinion,

if emancipation meanS doing the same job as men, then the

Ghanaian womenhas been emancipated since time immemorial just.as

3rnest Dammannhas also observed amongAfrican womenin matrilineal

. t.

soc~e ~es.

'Z7

Ghanaian womendo not necessaxily

have to join ass9ciations

to

seek for posts or td demonstrate their

capabilities.

Their

role in

traditional

society has been explicitly

defined and is recognised

and accepted by the members of the society.

According to KwameA.rhin,

male and female roles

in Akan traditional

society are assentially

complementary. For example the role of the IfOhemma', (queen mother)

complements that of the "Ohene!!CChief). The "Odekroll (Chief of a

Village)

has the "Obaapanyin" as his female counterpart W~lO :is

responsible

for women's affairs28•

The "Akornfo"'waditional

priests)

comprise of both male and female who act as mediums

105.

between the humanand spirit worlds, as ritual

speciali~~s with

extensive knowledge of herbal medicine etc.

Contrarily,

in the wider society women's roles

tend to 08,

rather

supplementary. This however does not mean the inferiority

of. women. As already stated, women simply recognise the different

roles of the genders in traditional

society and they neither

argue

with the men over this

regulation

nor compete with them for

leadership positions

or 'authority.

I~about

10-12 Spiritual Churches visited,

the traditionol

positi0l! of womenis reflected

in the pas it ions they hold i~ the,

sooiety.

It

is in only i!lkwamthat

the situation

is essentially

different. Whyis this

so?

Is the elevation

of 3kWalll womento

the highest

ranking psotionsand

the accompanying privileges

another attempt by father Ekwamto jeopardise

the traditional

order of affairs?

The following narrative

of Prophetess Abeba gives insight

into the reasons for

the pre-eminent status of the Ekwamwomen.

"At the beginning, our father Elkwamhad only men as prophets

working with him but

they disobeyed our father by marrying at

times

which .were not ripe.'

lt was unripe because God had revealed to our

father when we should marry. As a result

of the disobedience of the

prophets ,agreatcalalility

befell

the Ekwamcommunity. Many diseases

affected the m~B:e.r:td'womenwho married and the children they brought

forth.

Our father

then advised them to stay aside for purification.

During this period of suspension they became worse so they were

106.

stripped of their

titles

and duties as prophets.

They felt

disgraced

and withdrew their membership. That

is why we have no prophets but
"7e womenn.reweak29 and fe3X God. Satan works

only prophetesses.

tn both men and womenbut when this

:fakondodzebon" (evil,

sensual

appetite)

comes we report

to our father Ekwamwho helps us to

conquer satan. "

Prophetess Abeba's story explains

the psotion of leadership

~f the Ekwamwomenas a result

of the disobedience of men.

It also

confirms the general knowledge that womenhold cortain offices

only

in the absence of men.

On the other hand Abeba's story refutes

the argument that

womenjoin Spiritual Churches to seek for high posts.

3kwam

prophetesses

claim they did not have to fijht

for

their post;

they were chosen by providence. Neither d. they feel

'emancipated'

or contemptuous thr.ugh their

office.

CONCLUSION

While almost all Spiritual Churches employ 'contact-healing'

which rna.Y involve physical beating or touching the ailing part of

the patient with the hands,

the bible,

crucifix

or other acknow-

ledged objects

sacred to the church,

the Church of Ekwamportrays

her uniqueness by healing through "Silent Meditation and Telepathy'.

Ekwam's style of healing is Simply by means of 'breath'

and is
anytime, anywher~, and in any posture either

applied flexibly

in

standing,

sitting,

kneeling etc.

107.

Abeba's tory elucidates

that

the projection

of the womenof

Ekwamon a hi~h pedestal

is coincidental.

In other words women

came by their

seems very plausible

positioh
..

through the default

of men. This explanation

considerin~

the usually modest positions

held

by womenin other Spiritual

Churches.

However I am inclined

to assume that

the pre-eminence of women

in the Church ofiillcwamis neither

coincidental

nor an over-reverence

for womanhood. It

is rather

a subtle,

calculated

action by Father

EkI'Vamto avenge the men fold and to prevent

a;ny further

opposition

or re'ellion

from them. This assumption is

strengthened

by the fact

that

there

are male members with' developed spirits'

who would take

on leadership

position

but

I feel

they are being deliberately

chastised

for

the disobedience

•

of the former prophets.

It

is

deliberate

because the elevation

to prophethoo~ which is a spiritual

by God can be communicated only through Father Ekwam

revelation
who is the sole mediator between God and mankind.

The exalted status

of the womenof Ekwammay therefore

be

regarded as a means to an end, a means by which Father Ekwamcan

sustain

his own undisputed divine

authority.

The privileges

enjoyed

by womencan be viewed as Father Ekwarn's initiative

to attract

more womenmembers who can be easily manipulated to succumb to his

wishes because "we womenare woak and fear God:! to use Abeba's

wurds. Furthermore the high status

of womenof Ekwarnmay be a

108.

a compensation for

the respectable

sta.tus of womenin tr~i

tiona.l

Akan society which the women have forsaken

in order

to jq;L"hIikwam.

1.

2.

3.

4.
5.
6.
T.

8.

9a.
10.

11.

12.
13.
14.

FoarNOTES

This terms is preferred
Holy Spirit

in these churches.

in Ghana to emphasize the role nf the

(see Baeta 1962:1)

Perrin J assy has also made this observation
Wemenin Independent Churches in East Africa.

in his study on

For example, Gra.ce Divine Healing Ministry, Twiekurom-Ajumak:o~
presently resettled
Church, Secondi.
Churches in Southern Ghana.
Baeta. Ope cit. 9.

in Ekumfi-Adanse, and Essawah's Saviour
See Brigid Sackey 1919 on three Spiritual

32-34 and K.A. Opoku 1918:112.

Baeta ~p. cit.
Sister Mary Aquina 1969:119.
"NyamesomPa" is the real name (,f the Church but adherents
simply refer
Subsequently the term Ekwamor Church of Ekwamis substituted
for
See page 4 below fOr explanatirm ~f this

the real name of the Church throughout

to it as Ekwam,the name of its

terminology.

this paper.

founder.

of patrilineal

This practice
and undermine the alleged elevated position
Martin West 1975:88.

inheritance

seems to contradict

of womenin Ekwam.

The Church of The Twelve Apostles is ,ne of the first
churches in Ghana, founded in 1914 througn the influence
visiting

Liberian Prophet, William WadeHarris

(Baeta Ope cit.

spiritual

of the

91.

113-4 reports
:MusamaDisco Christo Church.

similar

historical

K.A. Opoku op. cit.
and conception for
Nigeria Magazine 55, 1951.
Nigeria Magazine Ope cit.

361.

events

the neighbouring ~hsama Disco Christo Church Community

Althrmgh heaven is made the source of these names, it
be that
(at Mnzanonear GomoaEshiem) who are known to have introduced
heavenly names emanating from a language perculiar
members only (Opoku Ope cit.
source of inspiration

113) might have been the earthly
renaming in the Church of Ekwam.

to its

could

for

110.

accept s polygy'njr,- th~

it

is not obligat ory •

study,

the former Senior Prophetess,

at

:'Tufoantsei',

the Church's

prison

HaVia,
for

ence that would not.,J:>~discJ..os,e.d:o::

15.
16. At

The Church generally

the time of this
was being disciplined
aii6ff

17.

1~tin West Ope cit.

50-57.

18.

::$~~ Brigia.-'IdoWu in ORITA 1970:,13.

20.

P .A. Twumasi 1975: 35.

21. Twumasi, Ibid..

22. The Ch()iee-<of Father Ekwam's niece

tQj;.I:ris post

emphasizes

Father mkwam's'matriliii~b~~oundr
institution
co~~ty

of patrilineal

in dispute.

further

inheritance

This brings
among his

the
church

23. This again is a reVerse

in the residential
the :Ean.te-:Akan ma.rriage _'wllereby the woman lives
of the husbandU or'ina.v iive
visit

the man at nights.

in her matrilineal

order

patterns
of
:in the house

hOlIleand

24. Martin West Ope cit.

88. -

25.

:'Nest, op,!

'cit., 76.auotiM' Wil.~;tQA':'_

26.

Zl.

Perrin

Jassy qP~ :cit.12.

Ernest DaI!lIIIa.riri1968:128'.

28. KwameArhin 1983: 92-91~'

29. Here physical

disability

is being.:r.eferxed

to.

11h

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"The Challenge of Witchcraft"
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~ops
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