The legend of Togbi Tsali, the traditional priest who never died

The Ewes and, essentially, the Anlos revere him, and till today, he still lives among them. His presence is felt every time his spirit is invoked.

His name is Tsali, twin brother of Tsala and son to Togbi Akplormada. Both twins were born with mystical powers and marvelled many with their powers.

Tsali played a significant role in the escape of the Ewes from Notsie, and even beyond Notsie, he served his people.

Detailing the chronicles of his life on the history-laden episode of the People & Places show, Togbi Kumassah, who has authored some historical books and speaks for the Awoemefia, Togbi Sri III, explained that Togbi Tsali didn’t die a natural death but vanished into eternity.

According to him, after their escape from Notsie, Togbi Tsali helped provide food for the people after they tried to rebel against their leaders over hunger.

“He came with them (from Notsie), but he sometimes vanished and returned. When he came, the people tried to rebel against their leaders; they wanted to return to Notsie.

"But when he knew that it was hunger that was causing it, he took some corn grains from a haversack he had on him and spread it, and within a very short time on that same day, the maize grew and the people harvested on the same day. He then caused two granites to appear, and they used it to grind the maize into powder, and then he disappeared again,” Togbi Kumassah narrated.

But a single decision that went wrong brought dire consequences upon him. At this point, a lot of things changed.

“Whenever he came here, he settled in the Tongu area and began to farm. He caused rain to fall only on his farm, and the people became annoyed. They caught him, tied a big granite on his back, and put him in the Volta River, but the next day, they found him riding on the back of the crocodile and holding the granite. He called out to them.

"The granite is still near Tseva, and it’s a mobile granite. One time you find it here, at another time, you find it somewhere else on the floor of the lagoon when it dries up,” he explained.

About how he finally departed from the human race, Togbi Kumassah explained Tsali didn’t die a natural death.

“It was Tsiame that he finally settled, so if you go there now, you can find his stool because he was made a chief; you can find his saucepan, where he sometimes settled to fly. He sat on the saucepan, and like a plane, he just went wherever he wanted to.

“When he wanted to vanish formally, he came to Vui, planted some agor beans; it was here he crossed the sandbar and called the faithful crocodile and went into eternity. Before he left, he told the people to invoke his spirit, so whenever they are performing rites for him, they call him by that name, and he reappears.

"There is a forest near Anyako; he has a shrine there, and his wife is staying in that forest, and now there’s a clan after him; people descended from his line.”

Watch the full video below:



This historical story was published in 2020 and has solely been published for educational purposes