OATHS
In Africa, oath s are promisesor statementsof
fac t that cal l on some thing that a person feels to
be sacred and hol y, for ex ample , a deity, an
an cestral li neage , or a group. The idea is that
th e sacred obj ec t, group, or en tity witnessesth e
making of a pr omise or statementby the per son.
Thus, a perso n who takes or makes an oath
ex presses certai n vow s.
Wh en aperson claims an office, choose sto lead
a cam paign against the enemies of the group, or
marks an occasionof birth or death, it might be
do ne with an explicit statementof sweari ng before
th e sacr ed or holy object or en tity. One is mak -
ing an oa th when the idea of a witness, a holy or
sacr ed th ing or person , is consi de red to be the
fou ndati on of the acti on.
The Afri can oath is tak en before the peopl e
and, as such, is a ceremonyof great sole mni ty.
How one makes an oath, that is, the ph ysical
arran gement of sacred things or the hol ding of
spec ial swor ds, is dependenton the tradi tions
of the Africancommunity. Yet it is clear th at
Africansknow that th e physic al environmentor
the arran gement of objects is no t th e oath, but
rather the actual mak ing of the state ment of
promis e is the oath. When one says that he or she
is making an oath and implies or says that the wit -
ne ss es are aware of this oath and that if he or she
do es not completeor fu lfill the task re quired th en
the oath is brok en, an oath has been made,
re gardl es s of wheth er the person holds a sword.
An oath may be made to the royal court of Benin
or Asante before giving testimony,or an oath may
be mad e by a newly elected or appointedofficer
or king in Zulu or Shona societies.One can claim
that thi s is an affirmation,but an affirmation
made in a verbal, vocal way before the people is
more th an awritten statementcould ever be in the
African context.
The concept of th e oath is found th roughout
Africa and is entrenchedin the idea th at the maker
of an oath believes fundamentallyin th e power of
the sacr ed object or entity. An oath acknowledges
the tr uth of what a person says befo re a witness
because it is a serious attestationof the truth of
on e’s words before the ancestors,the people, or
the deiti es.
One of the classic oaths of the African people is
the oath made by Ok omfo Anokye,the philos -
op her and ethical teache r of the Akan people.
Standing before Osei Tutu, the new king of
Asante, Anokye took one of the swor ds and said,
“I sp eak the name of the father of Osei Tutu (his
spiritualfather, the God Otutu), the great forbid -
den oath that, if I do not go to this war on which
you have sent me forth, or if I go and show my
back to the enem y, and if I run away, then I vio -
late the great forb idden oath. If it is a choice
betweendishonorand death, death is my choice.
If Igo forw ard, Idie, if Iflee, Idie of the oath; bet -
ter to go for ward and die in the mo uth of battle.”
Other oaths are found among African societies
that have similar structures.Among the Akan, it is
also typical to name one’s lineage and to state that
on e is making the oath before the people when469