THE AKAN PEOPLE OF GHANA

 The Akans like the Ga people also trace their origin from Ancient Israel. They are originally from a region known as the Akas region. They left for ancient Mali passing through several linguistic zones before they finally got to their location. Their origin could better explain why Ga, Dangme and Akan languages are very much related to each other although the Ga and Dangme use the Direct-plain accent in speaking whereas Akan languages use the vowel-toned accent in speaking. In Ancient Mali, they lived in an empire called the Ancient Ghana Empire. The name for that empire is the reason for the modern name, Ghana. They lived within the Kumbi-Saleh region before migrating to Ghana. They were then under the reign of the powerful Mansa Musa who raided empires together with the Akans.

The Akans in a bid to establish a stronger kingdom migrated south to Burkina Faso where they might have met the Guans. Well the Guans were also living in Ancient Mali but then they might have set off earlier. Guans from the very beginning were related to the Akans thus, although they might have left ancient Mali, history is not clear as to whether they might have pre-meditated with the Akans concerning their departure or not.

The Guans were clearly related to the Akans and effeminate to the Akans. From Burkina, they came down to Ghana. As they got to present day Ghana, a fraction of the Guans could have earlier taken the lead to the “land of milk and honey,” which would be present day Ghana. Those Guans who had earlier settled on the new land are those we would call “Kagbanye” or better still the “Gonjas.”

It happened that the Guans lived in three main clans in Ancient Mali. And they stretched together with the Akans to as far as parts of present day Senegal. The Kagbanye were mainly in Senegal and they were in contact with Mande warlords. They might have followed the Mande warlords for which reason the Kagbanye got to Ghana first before the others.

The Akans arrived and moved down south and made their settlements. Then, the Akans were one body with no division. Later, divisions like the Denkyira, Asante, Fante, Ahafo, Kwahu, Worawora, Tepa, Bono etc. came up. Their Guan counterparts were the Ndenyes (Nzema-Ahanta, Anyin), the Shuoyi people (the Efutus, Akuapems and the Nkonyas) and the Le-Guan group currently found within the Oti Region. They are the Likpe (Okpele) and Buem (Lefana).

The Akans who were one body then formed smaller groups and settled around the areas of Ashanti and Bono-Ahafo lands. These groups would be the present clans of the Akans. They multiplied and established kingdoms. The Shuoyi, Le and Ndenye Guan groups also settled around modern Bono-East Region. The Kagbanye later Gonjas also started trading activities with the Mande. Years later after they have established their settlements, the kings that came together into forming the Akan lands passed on and subsequent kings that arose from the Asante lands desired to conquer the other linguistic groups in order to expand Asanteman (the Asante Empire).

This brought about a very disastrous conquest (war). When the war began, the Bono people stayed to fight (according to Sylvester Sarkodie, Nkoranza) but then the other tribes mostly fled to the south of Ghana and we shall take detailed accounts of the histories of those subsequently.

The war lasted for so long. According to one Philip Owusu from Kwahu, some of the Asantes fled from the Asante Empire. They left Asanteman to establish their own settlement and he further continued that others could have left Asanteman due to the ravage that went on. Others also left to colonise new territories so as to extend the Akan or Asante Empire. Such were the people of Akropong, Ahafo, Worawora, Akyem, Wassa, Denkyira, Tepa, Akwamu and Kwahu: thus it brought about the name “Asa ɛnte” meaning “because of war.” In Ga, Asante is pronounced Ashante which also came to stay as Ashanti.

As parts of the Asantes broke off, it indirectly expanded the Asante Empire making the Twi one of the most widely spoken languages in Ghana. The Asantes were ruled by several kings including Osei Tutu I, Opoku Ware I, Prempeh I and many others.

 

THE AKYEM:

After the Asantes had settled finally at Asanteman, they established their settlements in clans. Each clan had its territory and its king but then the Paramount king is always the Otumfuor of the Asante kingdom. Therefore, as the Akans further moved to make new settlements, they still kept their identities in terms of the clans they belong to and their totems. Below is a list of the clans and their totems.

Clan                                                                                  Totem

1.     Oyoko clan                                                                 Hawk

2.     Adakɔ clan                                                                  Hawk

3.     Asuna  clan                                                                 Crow/serpent/gold

4.     Bretuo clan                                                                 leopard

5.     Agona clan                                                                 Parrot

6.     Asakyirɛ clan                                                              vulture

7.     Aduana clan                                                                Dog/lion

8.     Akuona clan                                                                Bull

9.     Aseneɛ clan                                                                 Bat

One of the Akan communities had very good builders and their arts of building earned them the name “Adansi” meaning “builders or constructors” hence “Adansi fuɔ” meaning “the builders of homes.” From Adansi, some of the Akans migrated southwards like earlier said to establish new territories.

These people after they got to their present settlement named themselves after their totem “Ɔkyem” meaning “leopards” because they believed they are as strong as the leopard. Adwoa Yeboah Agyei of UTV-Ghana furthered that these Akans used a traditional herb called the “ahomakyem” to cure themselves of various ailments thus, “ahomakyem” and “ɔkyem” are the reason why they took on the name Akyem. “Akyem” is in the plural sense whereas “Ɔkyem” is in the singular sense. The Akyem kingdom is called Ɔkyeman meaning “the leopard’s kingdom”

Okyeman currently comprises of three principal territories Akyem-Abuakwa, Akyem-Bosome and Akyem-Kotoku. There is also Asante-Akyem within the Ashanti Region. Akyem-Abuakwa, Akyem-Bosome and Akyem-Kotoku each have their paramount chief whereas Asante-Akyem has Otumfuor of Asanteman as its paramount chief. The folks of Akyem-Bosome migrated from Amanseam; Akyem-Kotoku likewise belongs to the Agona Clan of the Akans and they migrated from Asante-Akyem; whereas Akyem-Abuakwa traces its ancestry to one Nana Dokuaa of Adansi-Krofrom and they are of the Asona clan.

Akyem-Abuakwa has communities like Suhum, Kukurantumi, Asiakwa, Begoro, Kade, Apedwa, Apapem, Osino, Oseam, Adadeetem, Adoagyir, Aboabo and Asamankese and its traditional capital is Kyebi.

 Akyem-Kotoku has communities like Gyadem, Akyiase, Awisa, Nyankomase and its traditional capital is Akyem-Oda. Akyem-Bosome has Swedru as its capital and some of its communities are Nsuayem and Akyiase.

 Asante-Akyem also has communities like Agogo, Konongo, Bompata, Odumase, Dwaso, Dwansa, Obogum, Asakare, Krofa, Banka, Kyekyem, Mpata, Dampong and many more.

 

AHAFO:

The Ahafo people narrated that there was once an Akan village where a king had rules governing hunting in his village. One of his rules was for hunters to present the thigh of their game as gifts to the king of the land. One hunter who strictly adhered to that principle as a native of that land, travelled to a village that is miles away from his village.

He got there and settled. As a hunter, he one day went for hunting and he had a big kill. He cut the thigh of his game as a present for the king. The king gladly accepted the gift but could not get the rationale behind the gift so as curious as he was, he asked what prompted the hunter to bring him such a gift. The hunter narrated the culture of his village to the king. The king then told him that with his village, they do not have such culture but then gifts are presented to the king voluntarily and not out of force. All the hunter could say was “aha yɛ fo” meaning “it is cheap” or “it is better here.” So Ahayɛfo gradually became the name for the community and subsequently the Ahafo tribe.

 

THE AKAN TRADITIONAL AREA OF OTI:

There are five principal Akan communities in the Oti Region. They are Worawora, Kadjebi, Tepa [Tepa-Abotoase and Tepa-Amanya], Katanga and Asato. Kpleso and Asukawkaw are originally Akposso and Ntrubo communities which have with time being dominated by the Akans from Kwahu-Dokoman. In the case of Asato, they are originally Denkyira who have occupied the lands.

With respect to Worawora, history goes that they are Ashantis who migrated from somewhere Kuntanase in the Ashanti Region to their present settlement in the year 1731 when Nana Opoku Ware I ruled the Asante kingdom. And like earlier said most Akans migrated for varied reasons to establish new settlements.

They were led by Nana Tiprekese Baah and they were from the Oyoko clan. They carried their gods with them. Through the bushes, the Worawora people got to Denkyira and then to the Aburi areas where they lived for more than 10 years and later departed to Nkonya due to unrest between the Akyems and Akwamus. A few of them took on a different path and joined the Kwahu people. Those who went to join the Kwahu were led by one Akora Oko.

Still on Worawora, they first settled with the people of Nkonya who are Guans. There was a river at Nkonya where albinos where not allowed to enter but then there was an albino among the Worawora who once ventured to enter the river and that angered the Nkonyas. So the Nkonya people out of anger chased the Worawora people away.

Another version of the story goes that the Nkonyas wanted to kill an albino who was among the people of Worawora to sacrifice to the Nkonya god but the people of Worawora refused and attacked the Nkonya people. Now let us look at this story from a neutral ground, the Nkonya perform no such sacrifices and it would not make sense for the Worawora people to live amongst the Nkonyas for years and no such sacrifice was done until one day that they decided to make that habitual. The Nkonyas are Guans who abhor bloodshed and human sacrifices just like their fellow Guans. So then it makes the latter wrong. Then also, Worawora is just few minutes’ drive from Nkonya so if they really fought the Nkonya people, they should be far from each other then as there would not be any form of peace among them till date. The Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict is a very typical example.

So they moved and they settled upon a mountain top which they called “mmosommepo” which means “mountain of the gods,” but they descended some years after to their present settlement when a missionary called Rev. Nicholas Clark went on a missionary work to the Worawora Mountains to evangelise to them. After the evangelism, he persuaded them to descend and that there is a machine called “a lorry” used for travelling and that there is no way a lorry could ascend their mountain. They were very stubborn though and did not want to come down.

It happened that a woman, who was the wife of one very important Worawora elder, got sick and they did everything within their power to cure her but to no avail. Their gods were proven powerless so Rev. Nicholas Clark fasted for 3 days with prayers; with the assurance that the woman would be cured and indeed she was cured. The miracle convinced the people of Worawora and most of them converted to Christianity and they finally descended down the mountains with him.  He established a new Mission in 1894 which continues to exist today as the Presbyterian Mission where the Worawora Presbyterian schools have been built and remains till date.

Now the people of Worawora said in Old Akan as “yɛ kwan ware ware”. “Wareware” came to stay as the name of the town WORAWORA. The people of Worawora celebrate the AKWANTUTENTEN festival to remember their journey. The people of Worawora are known as Worawora but then there are the Abotoase and Amanya people who are also known as the Tepa people. Worawora is bordered by Buem-Kudje to the south, Asato to the North, Akpossokubi to the west and Tapa-Amanya to the east.

It is continued that another Akan community was named “Ka gyae bi” meaning “Say it but not all.” Kagyaebi was misspelt by our colonial masters as Kadjebi which is till date the name of the town. Kadjebi is also an Akan community in the Oti Region.

With the case of Asukawkaw and Katanga, when the Akosombo dam was built Kwahus who were at the Eastern Region where relocated across the lake from Akroso and Kwahu-Dokoman. The Volta River Authority (VRA) built quarters for relocated indigenes and with time they multiplied and they are mainly found at present day Kadjebi, Asukawkaw and Katanga. Asato is also an Akan settlement in the Oti Region but they are mainly Denkyira.

The Akans speak the Twi (ʧui) language. The Twi language now exists as dialects and for that matter Asante Twi, Bono Twi, Fante and Akuapem Twi have been given the needed recognition. The minority dialects would be those spoken by the Akwamu, Akyem, Ahafo, Worawora, Kadjebi, Gomoa, Agona and others. Most of the Akan communities are foregoing their dialects and embracing the Asante Twi; which is causing a whole lot of Akan dialects to die.

Even the Fante, Akuapem-Twi and Bono-Twi appear to be fading away as natives prefer to speak the Asante-Twi to their own dialects. The Akan language is one of the widely spoken languages in Ghana and we shall continue to learn about them in further topics in this book.