Investigation into Succession Plan in the Chieftaincy Institution of the Savannah Region of Ghana: A Case Study of Kingship (Overlord) of the Gonja Kingdom

Kingship, a social phenomenon across the globe has been recognized and established in many countries. Kingship is believed to be the genesis of evolution of social leadership in the community, family, clan, and or tribe. In many jurisdictions, it is a preserve for the royal family who hailing from patrifiliation or matrifiliation. In the case of the Gonja Kingdom, the King (Yagbonwura) as he is called succeed the Kingship through patrilineal lines. Unlike the Ashantis in Ghana, succeed the Kingship through the matrilineal lines. In the United Kingdom (UK), Charles III is the King of Great Britain. In Africa, we have Mswati III the Ngwenyama King of Eswatini formally known as Swaziland. This paper focus to ascertain whether or not the Kingship succession of Gonja is conflict free or otherwise. The methodology of the research, applied both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Observation, interviews, focus group discussions were employed in data collection. The research reveals that, Kingship in the Gonja Kingdom is conflict free in Ghana. It is highly revered, upheld and considered one of the sacred institutions. Every King automatically has followers and subjects who serve the Kingship within a defined jurisdiction.