A historical study of Konkomba medical practices since 1957

Abstract

This thesis examined the historical transformation of traditional medical practices among the Konkomba people of Northern Ghana from the post-independence period to the present. It employs a qualitative research approach, utilising descriptive and narrative strategies to examine how Konkomba healing traditions have adapted to shifting sociopolitical, environmental, and institutional contexts. The study draws on oral testimonies, archival records, and relevant secondary literature, all of which were analysed within a historical interpretive framework. The thesis argued that instead of being displaced by Western biomedicine, Konkomba's traditional healing systems have persisted and adapted through negotiation and selective incorporation. Central to these practices is a holistic worldview that links physical illness to spiritual causality, communal well-being, and cosmological balance. This worldview is expressed through ritual sacrifices, herbal treatments, and the roles of Uwumbor (the Supreme Being), ancestors (tiyajatiib), and local deities (nwa), all of whom remain essential to diagnosis and healing. The savannah environment, rich in medicinal flora, has shaped local pharmacological knowledge and informed therapeutic choices. This close relationship between ecological understanding and spiritual belief underscored the complexity and adaptability of Konkomba medicine. The study also examined state efforts to regulate traditional healing through policies such as the formation of the Ghana Psychic and Traditional Healers Association and the enactment of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act. While these initiatives recognised Indigenous healing, they often introduced institutional constraints. This thesis contributes to broader scholarly discussions on African medical pluralism, indigenous knowledge systems, and the flexibility of traditional practices in modern health contexts.