THE GA-DANGME PEOPLE OF GHANA

 The people of Ga-Dangme migrated from a place thought to be around the Cushitic areas. From there, they moved to Egypt where they passed by the Nile River. Their stay by the Nile area brought about the “Nai Wulɔmɔ” which means “chief priest of the Nile.” They stayed in Ancient Egypt for some time before they furthered to Ancient Ethiopia and subsequently to Congo through Sudan. In Egypt, they picked up lots of ancient Egyptian vocabulary into their language which enriched their language and according to Amandzeba, a popular Ghanaian artiste in Ghana, made it clear that the word “Genesis” is synonymous to the Ga and Dangme words “jeŋ nɛɛ shishi” and “je nɔ sisi” respectively which translates as “the beginning of this world.”

From Congo, they moved to Anago (Nigeria) where they lived for a very long time in the Benin Empire around 1200AD during the reign of King Udagbedo. Some of them also stayed within the smaller Ile-Ife city in present day Yoruba land in Nigeria. Their stay at Ile Ife and in the Benin Empire began the breakdown of their language into two dialects. At Anago, those within the Benin Empire were under the leadership of Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh. The people of Nungua highly esteem Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh. It is believed that he is not a dictator thus he always believed in working with the people so in all of his statement, “wɔ” meaning “we” in Ga was his usual term thus the adage Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh. He was a warrior and leader of the Ga-Dangme people thus they called him “wɔ lumɔ” meaning “our leader” Worlumor with time was corrupted to Wulomor but then the people of Nungua still preserves the original Wɔlumɔ.

They borrowed words into their languages such as gari, fufu, lɛ, etc. Those at Ile-Ife borrowed from Yoruba whereas those in the Benin (Bene) Empire borrowed from the ancient Bene language. Thus, their language gradually began separating into dialects.

It is furthered that at ancient Benin, there was a time when a pregnant woman was needed for a ritual sacrifice but then the indigenes were not willing to sacrifice any of their own; so the Ga-Dangme ancestors whom we will now call “Kushibii” were to offer theirs as sacrifice. The leader Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh agreed to give out a pregnant lady for the sacrifice. On the day of the sacrifice, he planned an escape and communicated with his people in their native language showing them where to meet. A message was also dispatched to those at Ile-Ife. On the day of the festival, he told the Benin chiefs that the festival would be celebrated in grand style thus it would be a very interesting one. Everyone anticipated the festive day and he prepared strong drinks and made them to serve it to the people.

None of the ancient Kushibii drank the strong alcoholic wine. They lit torches of straw (Haatso) and he asked his people to dance slowly which they did till the people fell asleep. The slow dance continued for hours that it bored the Ancient Benin people and they all fell asleep after hours of boredom. The Kushibii began to flee. A sect would run without looking back after they had packed their belongings to a pre-planned destination. Then the others in order not to raise suspicion would keep on dancing until gradually, they all left including those at Ile-Ife.

The first group to leave forgot their calabash of corn dough which was all planned to serve as food in the course of their journey hence the name “ma shi lɔi” meaning “those who left corn dough behind.” They are the people of present day Ga-Mashi.

The calabash of corn dough was carried by the last group to leave Ancient Benin and when Konor Borketey Larweh and his group met them; he called them “ma shi lɔi” in the form of a tease meaning “those who left corn dough behind.” The slow dance of the Ga-Dangmes was the genesis of the Obeneshimo festival of the people of Nungua.  Obene is how the Ga people call the Benin area of ancient Nigeria thus, Obeneshimo means “departing from Benin.” Obeneshimo is a festival celebrated in Nungua. It is characterised by the slow dance performed in Ancient Benin and it spans from about 12am to 6am. The people of Nungua array themselves in white clothing when doing the Obene.

From Nigeria, they moved to Togo through South Benin in two main clans still under their leader. From Togo they got to the Volta Lake but then the others would take a different path with a common destination.

So in Southern Benin, there are the Guin and Gun tribes that speak the Guingbe and Gungbe languages respectively. These languages although related to Fon and perhaps Ewe, have chunks of Ga-Dangme vocabulary in them. Also there are languages in Nigeria and Cameroon that have whole sentences just like the Ga and Dangme languages.

At Togo, they met the Ewes, whose language is similar to Ga. So they recognized each other and the Ga-Dangmes made settlement at the coast in present day Anexor through to Benin. They sojourned with the Ewes for some time until they were tyrannised by a wicked king; forcing them to journey again. This time, some were not willing to continue travelling again. So they remained but the others separated into their respective clans and journeyed.

Some journeyed by sea and the others by land. Among those who journeyed by land under the leadership of Konor Borketey-Larweh got to the Volta Lake where Konor-Borketey Larweh prayed and cursed that as they are crossing the lake, enemies after them who wish only evil and not good for them should go blind at the sight of the Volta Lake which is why till date the Volta Lake is known as Shwilao meaning “blindness” in Old Ga. Old Ga developed from the ancient Kushian language likewise Old Dangme. They crossed the Volta Lake by foot so then perhaps it would have been in the dry season as the water levels would have reduced facilitating their crossing.

 At Shwilao, they marked that as their territory and first settlement which we now call Ada hence Ada-Shwilao. The name Ada simply means “division”. When the first settlement was established by the Ga-Dangme ancestors, they were not many but they had no choice than to leave some by the Shwilao River so that with time they will multiply and fill those lands. As they left their brothers by the river, all they could say was “wada” meaning “we have separated.” So Ada became the general name of their territory.

 Now from Ada-Shwilao they got to present day Ningo where they established their first state called Wor-Kpele in Old Ga or Kushian. At Wor-Kpele, they were very thirsty and in the search of water, they found “salty water” thus they named the place “Nu ŋoo” and Nungoo has been corrupted to Ningo over time but then in Dangme, Ningo is still called Nungo. Some of them moved to settle at Shwilao presently Ada and the others continued establishing settlements. Some also remained at Nungo and later, families from Ningo moved to establish Afienya, Osu-doku and Akuse settlements.

From Nungo, they furthered to a new place still under Konor-Borketey Larweh whom we will now call Wor Konor Borketey Larweh I. They got to an area of present day Nungua where Wor-Lumor Borketey Larweh I and his people got very thirsty and needed water to drink. He acted out of faith and declared that once they are under the watch of the Almighty, they would surely get water to drink and he asked his men to dig and indeed water rushed out and it was a fresh spring. The site where they dug the water was close to the sea thus they named the place “under the watch of the Almighty” which is said in Ga as “Yɛ Ofe ɛ shishi.” Yɛofeŋshi is now where the Nungua Coco Beach Resort has been sited.  In Old Ga, fresh water is called “Nuŋma.”

Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh I then called their new place Wor-Bobor but then with time Nuŋma became more popular and this has been corrupted to Nungua. Nungua has the appellation Krowor and communities that fall under Nungua are Klangon (“hill of leopards”), Baatsonaa, Legon, Okpoigonno, Lashibi, Santor, Oyibi, Oyibigonten, Borteyman, Asoprotsonaa, Katamanso, Estate Junction and parts of Spintex etc. A virgin forest which was on the Wor-Borbor land reminded him of the garden of creation in the ancient scriptures they had always learnt and taught back in their original home thus he called it “Bor-bu” meaning “place of creation” which has been said overtime as Gborbu meaning “place of craft.”

Wor-Konor Borketey Larweh I and his group settled and the others went to establish their territory. They got to a place where they got thirsty and they dug for water. Salt water rushed out so they said “ŋoo nu bu ekoŋŋ” which is the present “Bukom” area.  The Bukom areas were occupied by the Mashi and Wor-Shiagba. Now they made a tent which they stayed underneath thus the name Wor-shiagba meaning “we made a tent” in the Ga language.

The others continued to the areas known as Lanma in Ga which was occupied by the Wor-Lai group. It was an area of hills where they get “lai” that is firewood and they would light fire “La” thus Wor-Lai. From the Dodowa areas extending to the Akuapem valleys are the Wor-Dode people. The Wor-Dokun clan extends from Legon through the Labadi areas and the Wor-Tinaen clan are the Yilo and Manya-Krobo people. These later became the seven vassal states of the Ga-Dangmes and they are: Wor-Shiagba, Wor-Kpele, Wor-Dokun, Wor-Borbor, Wor-Lai, Wor-Dode and Wor-Tinaen.

The Ga people attest to the fact that they came to meet the Guans settled within the Ayawaso areas just as the Efutus, Akuapems and Nkonyas also believe thus there is accuracy in history here. When the other groups arrived by sea the Guans saw them coming in huge numbers thus they called them “Nkaran” meaning “black ants.” The Guans lived with the Kushibii for a long time; later Western Kushi called their language Ga which is the short-form of Gaga to mean “black ants.” Ga became the name of the western group.

The Ga group because of years of contact with the Guans started borrowing from the Guan languages as well as Fante and with time diverged from the Old Kushian language. The Wor-Kpele area was very far from the Wor-Borbor and the other groups.  Also they were separated by dense bushes and forests so they were able to preserve the Old language.

They finally settled and they were confronted by the Akans who were also inhabitants* of the lands. News reached the then Asantehene and Akwamuhene about the new settlers. They enquired of their name and the Guans and other Akans close by gave it as Nkaran (black ants) which has stayed till date in Twi as Nkran. Later the Guans left and the Akans came into the scene to fight the Ga-Dangmes over the land. The place the war was fought was named Nkran. The Ga-Dangme people were aided by the Guans of Efutu and some of the Fantes and victory was won. The Akan language is related to the Guan language thus there are shared vocabularies so Nkaran in Guan was said as Nkran in Akan and it came to stay as the name for the area where the war was fought and the Akans designated the name to describe the whole of the Ga-Dangme ethnic group just as the Guan Nkaran or Ngala.

Later on, the lands were officially partitioned into Ga and Dangme territories to ensure the new Ga dialect and Dangme do not mix up. So the Dangmes were bent on conserving the originality of the language. The name Dangme was coined to mean that the languages have now been shared among the people and that they exist as dialects so it was said as “Ada gbi” which means that the languages “have being shared or have been seperated” or simply put they are now dialects. Adagbi is what is now said as Dangme. Ga and Dangme do not vary that much and that a Ga speaker could understand Dangme with little or no effort and the same applies to Dangme speakers. At Ashaiman, Ga and Dangme exist side by side so both languages are spoken and it is the same for Kpone, Afienya, Dawenya and some few other Ga-Dangme communities.

It is said that the name Kpone came into existence because these Ga-Dangme group used to sleep outside under the moon, “amɛkaa kpo teŋ” or “kpo nɔ” and this is what has come to stay as Kpone.

The Ga people inhabited the whole of the west whereas the Dangmes inhabited the east. The main or primary Ga communities are Kpone, Tema, Nungua, Teshie, La, Osu and Ga-Mashie. There are annexes or what we could term as extensions and they include the communities of Lashibi, Ngleshie-Amanfro, Kokrobite, Weija, Amasaman, Pokuase, Sapeiman, Adenta, Oyibi, Dome-Kwabenya, Nsakina, Abokobi, Ablekuma, Haatso, Frafraha, Achimota etc.

The principal Dangme communities are Gbugbla, Nungo, Ada, Shai, Osudoku, Yilo-Krobo, Manya-Krobo, Dodowa, Kpong with the annexes being Ada-Foah, Ada-Goi, Ada-Kasse, Afiadenyigba, Big Ada), Sege, Akuse, Asutsuare, Doryimu, Afienya etc.

KLO BII (KROBO):

The north of Ga-Dangme land has hills and mountains with settlers from the Wor-Tinaen state of the Ga-Dangmes. The mountain was called Klo. Some of the Dangmes settled on that mountain due to the Akwamu conquest. They stayed there for years. So the name of the mountain Klo was used to address the Dangmes living on that mountain thus Klo bii meaning “the klo people.” The Akwamu called them “Kro bo so fo” meaning “klo mountain dwellers” which gradually became Krobo. Now the reason for the “r” and “l” phonetic change was due to the fact that “l” in Ga and Dangme is normally said as “r” in the Akan languages.

 

Kloyo which means “Klo Mountain” was the traditional home of the Klo people and it is called Klowem meaning “home of the Klo people” and till date it can be found on the Shai-Senkyi stretch leading to Kpong-Akuse in the Eastern Region. As population increased they would descend from the mountains to farm but then go back home to the mountain and it was so for decades.

 

Later, when the whites got to the shores of the Gold Coast, they had several issues with the Krobo people. They were very hard to monitor and to control; their practices were perceived as occultism thus there was a decree for them to evacuate the mountains and descend by Governor Griffith who was in control and he seized the opportunity to evacuate them from their home with the Native Customs Ordinance of 1892 with a total of three days to evacuate from Kloyo. The descent from the mountains marked the Kloyosikplemi festival which means “descent from the Krobo mountains” to mark their departure from their ancestral home.

For the Krobo people, they are divided into Manya-Krobo and Yilo-Krobo. The Yilo-Krobo extends to the upper parts of Manya-Krobo and it reaches into Koforidua. The name Yilo-Krobo came about when some Dangmes were served snails and they were quick to exclaim that “wa yi lɔ” meaning “we do not eat this.” Wayilɔ brought about the name Yilɔ hence Yilɔ-Krɔbɔ which has been anglicised as Yilo-Krobo.

Those who live by the outskirts of the community are called the “Ma nya” and “ma nya” literally means “the mouth of the town” and Manya describes the Krobo fraternity that lives within the edge of the Krobo community.

The Ga and Dangmes inhabit the coastal communities along the Gulf of Guinea to the south-eastern corner of Ghana. It is the Krobo and some few other communities that are not around the coast. They are all in the Greater-Accra Region with majority of the Krobo community geographically located in the Eastern Region. Both Ga and Dangme languages are recognized by the Government of Ghana and there is a standard Ga and Dangme curricula which has helped to control the rate at which they were breaking down into dialects. This has been very helpful because every Ga would learn the standard Ga whereas the Dangmes learn standard Dangme thus the languages are preserved and transmitted from generation to generation.

Krobo communities include Kojonya, Asesewa, Luom, Odumase, Nkurakan, Huhunya (the community with the Boti falls attraction), Somanya etc.