Among the Akan peoples of the Gold Coast the warrior organization is known as Asafu. This is found in almost every town or village in the Gold Coast in a more or less developed state, but nowhere has the organization been so fully developed or does it play so important a part in the social and political life of the people as among the Fantis of the coast towns. Owing, however, to the fact that its activities in these towns are more often than not rather disturbing to the maintenance of peace and occasionally result in sanguinary riots with fatal consequences, the organization is perhaps quite unjustifiably viewed with suspicion and condemned accordingly. Amidst drumming, dancing, and drinking, it requires only a word or a gesture on the part of any members of one Asafu momentarily carried away by the ecstasies of the dance, which is capable of being interpreted as an affront against another Asafu, to raise the beast in man and to set the whole place ablaze. That aspect of the Asafu would lead any foreigner to conclude, perhaps hastily but not without some justification, that it is an unprofitable institution. And yet the wonder is that even now the organization shows no signs of decay. To understand the institution itself and the sources of its vitality one must endeavour to find out what the organization is and what it stands for: its origin, history, development and scope.