Okullu, one of Africa's most respected church leaders, had made his ideas on the issue clear, so the Anglican church won wide support for a Christian burial. The church took ad vantage of the victory to kick off a national debate by proposing wide-ranging reforms to the elaborate and expensive customs traditionally linked to burials. The reforms would enable a widow to inherit the husband's property and allow her to marry whomever and whenever she likes. In addition, the reforms would re move an array of embarrassing syncretistic practices at Kenyan burials. The incident is symbolic of lingering tensions between Christian and tribal leaders throughout sub-Saharan Africa, which is mostly Christian.
Some conflicts require only persuasion and dialogue within the churches and with the wider society.
But others call for fundamental changes in national laws and constitutional guarantees. New alliances are forged as clerics, laypersons, and civil society leaders work together to pursue similar goals. The confrontation proved violent. With in the capital city of Accra, Christians, living in the districts dominated by Ga traditionalists, decided to depart from past practices and defy the month-long ban on drumming and hymn singing at the start of the harvest festival. To no avail, the Christian Council, the Catholic Bishops Conference, and the Ghana Pentecostal Council urged the Ga Traditional Council not to impose the ban this year.