The certificate Brouhaha , Katamanto fire and ...

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Ike Kumasi 12 years ago

i really love ur piece, keep it up

i really love ur piece, keep it up
Kwame 12 years ago

When Tamekloe generation try delibratly
to distort the history of the Togos and Ewhes, grandson of the stone that was a grating to their grandfathers Tamakloe and Tenge, must respond.
When the song "We are counting the sai ...
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When Tamekloe generation try delibratly
to distort the history of the Togos and Ewhes, grandson of the stone that was a grating to their grandfathers Tamakloe and Tenge, must respond.
When the song "We are counting the sails" is sung by Anlos, the descendants of Tamakloes and Tenge must look into the hearts of their great grandfathers and offer an apology to the Anlos.
The old Tamakloe and Tenge used to smoke fish with my grandfather and sell it in Ga, Ege or Accra. No one knows how Tamakloe and Tenge became slave raiders. For the infamous sails counting evil episode they were both send into exile up till when the British forced the Anlo chiefs to accept them back.
For a long long time there are two type of Ewhes, the Togos and the Ewhes. The Togos are those who live on the mountains and the Ewhes are those who speak what they refer to as Egbe or language who live in the valleys. Mr. Tamakloe I wrote sometime ago that there were some other Ewhes in the then Gold Coast before the majority of Ewhes who become to be known as Anlos, because the fact now is that all Ewhes in Ghana want to be called Anlos, not because they feel they are inferior to anyone.
Your great grandfather Tamakloe bought land from the Asreviwo who lived on the current part of the Volta Region. It is a fact that the Asereviwo, Ameawo and Elafeawo were living in that part of the Volta Region before the main Ewhe group, which became know as Anlo migrated to the area. It is on record that they call themselves the Ewhes until their chief Whenya (Ewhe matters) said that he was tired of moving one becomes he is old feeble and bend. Thus Anlo means the Ewhe clan which chief said he was bend.
We also wrote that the Anlos migrated to their current habitation before they decided to form themselves into clans. My people and your people still live in the same village, thus what I am writing is not fiction, but the fact.
The rest of your writing is in order, but what I am not happy about is your distortion of Anlo history. It is on record also that the Awunors and Amus were living among the Nfantis and have themselves become Nfanti.
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

First, as I did not bother to read the original crap by Allotey, I had difficulty grasping who said what in my cousin Kojo T's piece, as he did not put quotation marks properly. I guess this confusion has led you Kwame too to ...
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First, as I did not bother to read the original crap by Allotey, I had difficulty grasping who said what in my cousin Kojo T's piece, as he did not put quotation marks properly. I guess this confusion has led you Kwame too to assume that Kojo wrote some of the grossly distorted and false Ewe history he was trying to quote. Allotey is clearly just another uneducated wannabe pouring venom on Ewes.

I had already written a long piece titled "How Some Ewes Became a Part of Ghana", which dwelt on the period from British colonisation to independence. I am presently editing work on the pre-colonial era, which should put to rest all the nonsense we have been reading and provide much of the answers to many questions people ask and solve some of the puzzles even the professional historians still grapple with.

Kwame, I had touched rather briefly on forerunners of the migrating Ewes and indigenous people, e.g., the Fiafialawo, which the main migrating group of Dogboawo, a portion now known as the Anlos, absorbed.

Much of what is passed on orally from generation to generation is folktales, not proper history. The need for integration, building cohesion and unity in those brutal days of old dictate that the true origins of some people are subdued and myths created to lump/assimilate them into the main absorbing group.

I think the time has come for us to comfortably discuss those issues, in spite of the taboos which are still in place against doing so. I had had enough of the crap to my fill and ready bursting at my sides to spill it all out!

You should all brace yourselves for it!

Andy-K
SAMSON 12 years ago

Only people who lack sense of appreciation of what senseless tribal discussions like this would lead us to would write this. The eaelier we learn that this country does not belong to any one particular tribe and no tribe is m ...
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Only people who lack sense of appreciation of what senseless tribal discussions like this would lead us to would write this. The eaelier we learn that this country does not belong to any one particular tribe and no tribe is more important than the other, the better it would be for us.
K. T.M, Australia 12 years ago

Kojo, thank you for putting this article here. It is my firm believe that anybody worthy of his salt will contemplatively and soberly read this. Name calling, pointing of accusation figures and insults are eating too deep int ...
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Kojo, thank you for putting this article here. It is my firm believe that anybody worthy of his salt will contemplatively and soberly read this. Name calling, pointing of accusation figures and insults are eating too deep into the fibre of our society. We must see ourselves as one and help to solve our common problems.
Nsonko Maama 12 years ago

Typical Ayigwe with heard mentality. Stupid articles like this brings disunity. Indeed he has the audacity to talk of African Unity! Since when did Trokosi mad man Kpegah have the authority to demande certificates. Have you e ...
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Typical Ayigwe with heard mentality. Stupid articles like this brings disunity. Indeed he has the audacity to talk of African Unity! Since when did Trokosi mad man Kpegah have the authority to demande certificates. Have you ever asked Jato Julo to show his certificate! What an idiot!
gq 12 years ago

It amazes me how the first words that come out of the mouth of these akans is insult. Is it ingrain in their culture or it is how they bred.

It amazes me how the first words that come out of the mouth of these akans is insult. Is it ingrain in their culture or it is how they bred.
Pelicles 12 years ago

Insults has no bounds. It transcends every tribes, culture in Ghana. Yes, if insults in ingrain in our culture as well as how we breed, we do not "inbreed ie incest".

Insults has no bounds. It transcends every tribes, culture in Ghana. Yes, if insults in ingrain in our culture as well as how we breed, we do not "inbreed ie incest".
gq 12 years ago

If there is no inbreeding I wonder how you people remained short until your ilk started marrying outsiders.

If there is no inbreeding I wonder how you people remained short until your ilk started marrying outsiders.
Omanbapa Osei Oy3ade3yie 12 years ago

Please do me a favor and do a short research on Obo about a man nicknamed "Agya-Motooh"

I wont gp further!

Please do me a favor and do a short research on Obo about a man nicknamed "Agya-Motooh"

I wont gp further!

Kwobia(Toronto) 12 years ago

Truth sometimes is hard to swallow.Political parties would rather distort the truth for their own selfish ends.Sometimes too people themselves are too gullible.

Truth sometimes is hard to swallow.Political parties would rather distort the truth for their own selfish ends.Sometimes too people themselves are too gullible.
AGA 12 years ago

GHANA. GHANA WE ACTING SENSELESS WHY DONT WE HELP THE WE HAVE TO ACHIVE THE GOAL WE WANT IT LIKE WE PRAYING BUT CAN NOT MAKE HOW WHAT WE ASKING NONE OF US KNOW WHY GOD GAVE US THIS PRESIDENT SO IT WILL BE WISE IF WE HAVE ...
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GHANA. GHANA WE ACTING SENSELESS WHY DONT WE HELP THE WE HAVE TO ACHIVE THE GOAL WE WANT IT LIKE WE PRAYING BUT CAN NOT MAKE HOW WHAT WE ASKING NONE OF US KNOW WHY GOD GAVE US THIS PRESIDENT SO IT WILL BE WISE IF WE HAVE PATIENT AND SEE WHAT THE CAN DO FOR THE COUNTRY. WHAT CAN NANA DO REMMEBER HE IS USING HIS MONEY FIGHTING FOR SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM.
Okonko Palm 12 years ago

Ghana needs the npp as a balance to a left and right social cohesion.But that must mean a complete revamp of the present npp leadership.We need a new breed of npp leadership who would put country first and tribe last.Unless t ...
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Ghana needs the npp as a balance to a left and right social cohesion.But that must mean a complete revamp of the present npp leadership.We need a new breed of npp leadership who would put country first and tribe last.Unless this is done Ghana has a problem especially with the stance of Akufo and his unbridled lust for power.
GANYOBI SABAN 12 years ago

Mr. Tamakloe, this is a piece that exposes you as a tribal bigot. You are full of thinly-disguised, chauvinistic Ewe idiocy!!
What is the point in taking issue with what somebody had written about Ewe history, and yet fail t ...
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Mr. Tamakloe, this is a piece that exposes you as a tribal bigot. You are full of thinly-disguised, chauvinistic Ewe idiocy!!
What is the point in taking issue with what somebody had written about Ewe history, and yet fail to provide the true facts on the ground?
Secondly, your trying to rationalize Justice Kpegah's suit of malice is just the most unfortunate thing to have drooled out of your mouth. Even if it is true that Akuffo Addo does not have any certificates, as you are insinuating here, does that justify a man of Justice Kpegah's standing to file suit against Akuffo Addo, and yet fail to provide the necessary evidence to back his claims? Why are you lending credence to Kpegah trying Akuffo Addo in the media--planting innuendos and unsubstantiated allegations of impersonation and murder? I guess the only rationale for your strident defense of Kpegah's lunacy is the fact that he happens to be your tribal kin. This is sad!
Mr. Tamakloe, I am offended that you call yourself an Nkrumaist; I am an Nkrumaist too. Your rabid, unvarnished, tribal myopia criminally tarnishes and denigrates every Nkrumaist!!
It is obvious that you don't like Akuffo Addo. I concede that it is your prerogative to like whom you may; however, it is criminally unfair to vilify Akuffo Addo, a bonafide Ghanaian, by references to discredited rumors and hearsays: "7.A good leader is committed to excellence. Second best does not lead to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas. So can Nana be said to be showing exemplary character with all the scandals ranging from groping women on the set, deserting women with whom he had children, his alleged vehicular man slaughter and the mysteries surrounding his professional qualifications . Would Nana appoint someone who says “ I have lost my certificate” or would he be comfortable with such a person? I do not see the envy, jealousy, or tribalism in this"
Aren't you ashamed for posting such a hogwash of a one-sided article? Of course, it is inferentially necessary that you do not see any envy, jealousy, or tribalism in this mental detritus you've produced; After all, isn't it true that it is a miracle to find coherent thought in a shattered mind?
Pelicles 12 years ago

You love Nkrumah or as Nkrumaist, who was Nkrumah's vice when he was our president? There is no record as to who was Nkrumah's vice president and imagine being president of over nation of above 10 million without a vice, wha ...
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You love Nkrumah or as Nkrumaist, who was Nkrumah's vice when he was our president? There is no record as to who was Nkrumah's vice president and imagine being president of over nation of above 10 million without a vice, what is the reason and does it make sense for not having a vice president? Imagine he died on the throne, don't you think there would have been a constitutional crises or power struggle among those who are so close to him?

The problem confronting the nation, started with Nkrumah and the above is one of such reason.

Ghana, as she stands, it for all who resides in her borders legally. No tribe excluded. What irks some people about Voltarians is that they go everywhere but hates to see others coming to them. Have you ever wonder why other tribes cannot venture deep into your territories and what is the reason of "Nyebroism"?

The case between Nana and Kpegah is already settled by the court and if not satisfied, there are other avenues open for redress. What are Ewes demanding from Nana and why "only Ewes"? Who was Michael Dokosi? Whatever this man was demanding from Nana came to naught after Mills won the presidency. This shows that Ewes hate Nana just for contesting to become president and what bars him from doing that?

The Supreme Court verdict on Kpegah's case does not sit well with Ewes and the reason is best known to them. They are interested in demanding Nana's certificate but how many of them questioned JJ's credentials when he ascended the throne. None because he was one of them.

At times, Ewes refer Victor Owusu for making that "inward looking" comments but none of them whatsoever have "ever" delved deep into what prompted the man from making such. Victor Owusu is learned man and as experienced politician so, there is no way he will just wake up from his bed and let loose such a careless statement. I would be happy to read from you or anyone else what forced Victor to make that "inward looking" comment that had become a signature tune to you.

Ghana, as she stands, is for all the tribes living inside her borders and we should make it an obligatory that we move "freely" without any "erected barrier" in the form of "hate". United we stand.
ABC 12 years ago

You wrote:

"Victor Owusu is learned man and as experienced politician so, there is no way he will just wake up from his bed and let loose such a careless statement".

You start from a wrong premise. The fact that Victor ...
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You wrote:

"Victor Owusu is learned man and as experienced politician so, there is no way he will just wake up from his bed and let loose such a careless statement".

You start from a wrong premise. The fact that Victor Owusu was "learned" and an "experienced politician" is no guarantee that he would not make a statement in bad taste. No matter what prompted him to make that statement, it was in bad taste - very bad taste. It rather showed that he was not an experienced politician and perhaps not properly educated either (he had an MA or so(?) - no he was a lawyer. It was J.H. Mensah who had MA), which doesn't mean anything. No experienced politician would make such statement in public EVEN IF HE FELT IT WAS TRUE. Pelicles, maybe you were young by then or perhaps not even born. It was one of those statements that dog a politician for the rest of his life. Victor Owusu regretted making that statement, withdrew it, apologized for it but the damage was already done. It cost him a few more votes he could have gotten in the VR in the elections for the Third Republic. The Ewes never forgave him for it. At the time of the Second Republic, there was not so much tribalism in the country as at today and Ewes could vote for Paa Willie - an Akan. By the third Republic, there was no Ewe presidential candidate so, in the normal run of things, Ewes had nothing against voting for an Akan presidential candidate. But they had not forgotten Victor Owusu's statement and they punished him for it.

This is politics!!!
Pelicles 12 years ago

I fully understand your point but you did not answer my question.
You see, the same irrational behavior is being poured on Nana and imagine he open his mouth, who will you blame? Nana has not spoken and he is been seen as s ...
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I fully understand your point but you did not answer my question.
You see, the same irrational behavior is being poured on Nana and imagine he open his mouth, who will you blame? Nana has not spoken and he is been seen as someone hiding something. At times, we should do our best to hide the nasty hatred we have towards one another.
gq 12 years ago

I am not sure you were alive when Victor Owusu spewed that venom. Let me educate you. It was said in parliament after Mr. Salah the GNTC boss who was fired by Busia took the government to court for wrongful dismissal. This th ...
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I am not sure you were alive when Victor Owusu spewed that venom. Let me educate you. It was said in parliament after Mr. Salah the GNTC boss who was fired by Busia took the government to court for wrongful dismissal. This the short version of the story.

The interesting part of the story is, when Victor Owusu was leaving for London the study, he left his younger brother who had come from the interior to the city with and under the guidance of guess who - the very person he called inward looking.

Talk about gratefulness!!!!!
Kojo T 12 years ago

The writer points out how some one pours venom and distorts history of the Ewes when not needed. With such if people now hate you why should you complain. have you seen Voltarians pouring venom on other tribes? You always say ...
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The writer points out how some one pours venom and distorts history of the Ewes when not needed. With such if people now hate you why should you complain. have you seen Voltarians pouring venom on other tribes? You always say they must go back to Togo. Just read the article again, try to understand it before you put up your post
Bonso 12 years ago

I wrote the said article that you have quoted verbatim in your thought provoking piece. Well done. Do not let it rile you but check on it from your Internet. Every word is a fact in history except perhaps the bit about exact ...
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I wrote the said article that you have quoted verbatim in your thought provoking piece. Well done. Do not let it rile you but check on it from your Internet. Every word is a fact in history except perhaps the bit about exact date of EWES and ANLO'S migration from Notsie to Volta Region, as captured in the Hogbetsotso article, as 1878! The date was given by some invisible Ewe historians but my own History of Ghana Professor declined to commit himself...

Yet the fact remains that when the EWES and ANLOS came to Ghana, the most exploitative abusive colonial State, Dutch Gold Coast Colonial Power' that sold more slaves to Latin America and the New World than the rest of European Nations put together, had left their colonial post in Elmina for South Africa in 1652. The ewes were not here when the Asante Kingdom was being formed by Osei Tutu and Okomfo Anokye. They would therefore not know some of the great Kings and Queens that graced this country like Osei Kwame Bonsu, Kwame Karkari, King Aggrey and many others. The ewes were not in Ghana when Kwamena Asameni led the Akwamu fearsome Warrior Traders to take over the Castle Osu from the Danish Bradenburgers. The Asante-Fante wars; the Akyem-Bosome wars; the Asante- Akwamu wars; the era of Middleman Mulatto traders preceded Ewe arrival to the Gold Coast. Frafra, Dagarti, Sisala, Tampolensi and many Northern auchtotonous tribes led by their Tendaana were already well-embedded in society before Ewes began to filter through Ketu. There was Ghana-Gold Coast before the great Hogbetsotso, which was really a courageous act to defy and flee from a senseless tyrant in Agorkoli (Ze fere zefere vonzel)!

I need not go on to discuss Ghana history to you when you can read it yourself here but whatever be the case, Ghana or Gold Coast was already established tribal kingdoms led by the Guans of Winneba, Jasikan and Gonja, L-O-N-G before the people of Volta Region came!

We need to let this tribe know the truth for its own sake, because they are wrong if they think the rest of the tribal kingdoms of Ghana fear them after their too known bullying under Rawlings bogus revolution.

Many people from other tribes have learned through their cultural relics, historic traditions, religion, customary practices, celebrations, rich diverse heritage and oral history their proud culture and history.

We all know the brutalities of the Ewe dominated PNDC era that led to the persecution and defeat of the non-ewe leaders. It wont happen again. If the ewes continue to deceive themselves and not let sleeping dogs lie, then they will be snarled back by worse venom.

But no one wants this. It is therefore up to EWES and ANLOS to Change and integrate far better than they do now, if they really understand the words compassion and unity. It's up to Ewes to lead the way in magnanimity by actions and words they spew forth.

Well, a word to a wise is enough!

gq 12 years ago

Change and integrate? My goodness!!! How many Ashanti/Akyem people live in the Volta Region as opposed to the number of Ewes who live in the aforementioned areas.

Change and integrate? Bonsu you must be joking or you have ...
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Change and integrate? My goodness!!! How many Ashanti/Akyem people live in the Volta Region as opposed to the number of Ewes who live in the aforementioned areas.

Change and integrate? Bonsu you must be joking or you have no idea of Ghana's demography.
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

HOW SOME “EWES” BECOME PART OF PRESENT GHANA

To say that one is sick and tired of reading ignorant utterances about how “Ewes” were given the chance to join Ghana by Nkrumah from patently jaundiced and bloody-minde ...
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HOW SOME “EWES” BECOME PART OF PRESENT GHANA

To say that one is sick and tired of reading ignorant utterances about how “Ewes” were given the chance to join Ghana by Nkrumah from patently jaundiced and bloody-minded, ignorant fellow Ghanaians is a big understatement. I have therefore put together a concise history of how some “Ewes” became part of Ghana for all readers.

I am under no illusion whatsoever that this brief piece will stop the bozos who indulge in this kind of display of ignorance from doing so even after reading this; not only because of the scientifically recognised fact that awareness and knowledge of adverse causes and better practices do not necessarily stop continuation of adverse behavioural practices nor adoption of best practises, but also because the putrid and rotting worm-wood from which they emerge from, that is, our educational system, continues to churn out similarly ignorant and foolish elements on an annual basis. The problem must therefore be addressed at source.

Steeped in the foregoing knowledge, I have carved for myself a monstrous-looking spikes studded club to deal with any such miscreants who might be provoked by this article to begin their ethnic cleansing of the much vilified “Ewes” from Ghana to Togo.

I would not bother myself now and again with a recount of how the groups of linguistically and culturally different peoples who now comprise the ethnic group known to many as “Ewes”, but which linguists now have tagged the “Gbe” people, migrated and settled within the borders of Togo and present Ghana up to seven hundred years ago, as Ghana came into being on 6 March 1957, and that is where my story begins.

After all, it was Gbedemah, an “Ewe,” and the leader of the Committee for Youth Organisation (CYO), who was asked to replace him (Nkrumah) as General Secretary of the UGCC, who convinced him to leave the UGCC and gave him the chance to lead the CPP which was being formed by elements within the CYO; and who again gave him his Accra seat and led the campaign for the CPP and Nkrumah to win while in prison to become Leader of Government Business. Gbedema himself went to stand for the Keta seat. If Gbedema had not done that, he would have become the first Leader of Government Business, not Nkrumah; so Gbedema, an “Ewe,” gave Nkrumah the chance in more ways than what I have referred to in the foregoing to become leader of independent Ghana.

Nkrumah, of course, a chief in his own right in Nzema, got his first ceremonial chieftaincy title in Anloga, when he came on his Thank You visit, for the valiant roles Ewes played in the election victory of the CPP. That was before everything turned sore and Anloga led the revolt against the CPP in 1953 for breach of election promises not to enforce the much hated poll tax and not properly dealing with grievances about the cutting of swollen shoot diseased cocoa trees and failing to increase cocoa prices when the world price was hitting the roof, thanks to the Korean War. The decision not to increase cocoa prices paid to farmers was due to the infamous “anchor of safety” (it created the large reserve on attainment of independence, btw) and stemming inflation advice he, Nkrumah, accepted from the West Indian Nobel Laureate Sir Arthur Lewis. Some Anlo elite were also major cocoa farm owners in the TVT and elsewhere. The riots that started in Anloga and spread to the rest of the country were well documented by Dennis Austen in his seminal book on Ghana, so check it, if you want to be properly informed. Those events had deep impacts on the Anlo elite and eventually led to the coup of 1966 spearheaded by some Anlo officers in the Police and Army.

Those of you who like to criticise Kofi Awoonor for what he wrote in his book “The Ghana Revolution” should also look up his book specially devoted to Asantes and Ewes to read what he said about how they escaped from Anloga across the Volta to Ada Foah when the “Buga Buga War” started. I bet you never heard of that war before, eh?

So, nobody gave Ewes the chance to join Ghana in 1957, as some Ewe stalwarts led in the fight to create modern Ghana. Left to some Ewes though, they'd have seceded from the Gold Coast, to which they were lampooned by the British many decades earlier and had become fed up with because of the nascent demonization and vilification started by the forebears of today's Ghanaweb jaded jingoists. I had already partially dealt with that in an earlier article.

Moreso, the coastal areas from Anlo, through Tongu up to Peki and Awudome, part of the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast, were even indeed declared part of the British sphere of influence way back in 1850, 6 yrs after the signing of the Bond of 1844 with the Fantes. The British “bought” in 1850 the area from the Danes who were forced to leave the Gold Coast after they were defeated with Napolean at Waterloo. Interesting to note that Norway, then under Danish control for over 400 years, was also passed over to the Swedes, allies of Britain at Waterloo.

The area was declared part of the Gold Coast proper in 1876 or so. Before that, the Anlos had sued for peace with the British at the close of the Glover War and a Peace Treaty was signed at Dzelukope after the Sagrenti War of 1874. I have a sketch of that historical event which appeared in the UK Graphic of Oct, 10 1874, which I am attaching to this article, as it is a historical relic of interest to many. You’d see sitting with a King Adjaba of Awoonah, War Captain “Cocumay” and Chief Asantee Ambassador “Okobim Paba” addressing them and you’d know where yours truly comes from. Our ancestors played their roles on the battle fields and on the high table when the Gold Coast and its history were being carved, so before you open your mouth against us, ask yourself who born you? The Ga kings Tackie from Accra and Solomon from James Town were also there, among others.

In fact, those wars were fought due to events which occurred in northern Eweland (precisely at Ho), when Asante slave raiders kidnapped and took the missionaries there too to Kumasi as hostages for ransom. Of course, not only the missionaries were taken, as even some who helped the Asantes soon found themselves as captives at Kontsiabu instead of the promised gold dusts but that is another story altogether I had recounted elsewhere and is due for recounting soon. With the decisive defeat of Asante and her steadfast Anlo ally, that Ewe area known in the annals as “Krepi” through Buem, Dagbon in N/R to present Upper East, which later on became known as the TVT, became a British Protectorate until after the Berlin Conference when Queen Victoria gave it as a birth day present to her German cousin, who famously wanted a "place in the sun" in 1884. The Germans already had a small trip of Togoland. So the TVT was even under British sphere of influence for some years before being given to the Germans.

In 1915, at the start of WWI, the British took back the area and much of German Togoland (the French took the eastern part) with the help of troops raised by Torgbui Sri II, for which he was awarded the KMAC and sword of honour, and inducted into the LegCo in 1916 with Nana Ofori Attah of Akyem Abuakwa. After WWI, despite the campaign by the natives to unite the whole of Togoland to the Gold Coast, the British kept what they gave to the Germans in 1884 (TVT) and gave the rest - what the Germans had before - to the French, thus forming present Republic of Togo. Of course, the records show that it was Torgbui Sri II who was the first to call for the unification of Togo to the Gold Coast way back in 1915. By the end of the war, it was fully embraced by some native leaders of German Togoland, some of whose leaders sent a letter to the colonial government of the Gold Coast which curiously stated inter alia:
“We PEOPLE of Togoland, descended from two principal countries, Elmina
(Ane) and Accra (Ge), both of the Gold Coast Colony, ask to have British government because it is the government of our fathers, whose customs are our customs, and a British Colony is half-an-hour distant from us.
We ask to have British government because it is the government of our kith and kin, our race and our tribe.
We ask for British government because of our relationship with our people on the west, which must assert itself...” (“December 6, 1919 edition of the West Africa magazine, culled from West Africa 12-16 Dec. 1994)

I have always wondered why no mention of being “Ewes” was made by the supplicants. Of course, conspicuously absent too were names of many others such as Dagombas, Konkombas, Dagbons, Akans, Kabres, Mamprusis, Frafras, Nkonyas, etc., etc., who also have the TVT and Togo as their homeland at the time too. That was not an auspicious beginning for their objective, being what they were: descendants of fugitives who have settled amongst the original Ewe speakers!

Anyway, how those claiming to be Gas and Anes (Anyis) in Togo got there is quite another story I had re-told a number of times but I’d like the Akwamus and Asantes, former allies of we Anlos, to tell us their versions respectively. And to those ignorant and jaded MPs of the NPP who went to Lome to look for the roots of Fiifi Kwetey, who of course, claimed to be from Nogokpo in the Klikor area, and thereby rubbing a sore spot in my memory, next time they should begin the search in Ayawaso so that I am not reminded of Dzenunyegbodzi and the treacheries of Klikor!

How that desire for a union with the Gold Coast turned into the drive for secession is quite another story I had already touched upon in a previous article. In any case, the plebiscite of 1956 was to determine whether TVT, a UN Mandated Territory, should be added to the Gold Coast or rejoin present Togo. It was a messy affair, as it did not take into account the wishes of the Ewe Unification Movement, which had reached fever pitch in southern Eweland from Anlo to Peki, already part of the Gold Coast, and which was prevented from taking part in the plebiscite. Had those areas taken part, enough votes would have been garnered to secede from the Gold Coast, as a majority voted in the Ewe areas of the TVT to secede. Unfortunately, their votes were outweighed by votes from the non-Ewe areas of the TVT stretching from northern VR through eastern section of Northern Region to much of present Upper East. Indeed, parts of the TVT were also later added to the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions too by Nkrumah and Busia. So, only a portion of the TVT was added to the Eweland within the Gold Coast to form the present VR. Those of us who come from the south were thus part of the Gold Coast decades earlier before 1900 when the Protectorate of Asante was declared after their defeat in the Yaa Asantewa War; and before 1946, when the Burns Constitution made Asante and Northern Territories part of the Gold Coast Colony proper too.

That, in brief, is how parts of Eweland and some Ewes became a part of present Ghana. It is a pity that this basic history is not taught in our basic schools so that all know this somehow. Rather, we get all kinds of ignoramuses spewing rubbish about how Nkrumah allowed Ewes to join Ghana and they would deport Ewes to Togo! I am waiting for them bozos with my spikes studded club. Let no one say I didn’t warn them!

[This article can be freely quoted or reproduced without my permission.]

Andy C.Y. Kwawukume
cyandyk@ymail.com
Bonso 12 years ago

Thank you for your account of Ewe history; but it confirms what we are saying...that you were no where to be found in 1750. Your accounts of Ewe history cannot go beyond 1700; let alone 1650; the period between 1510 and 1650 ...
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Thank you for your account of Ewe history; but it confirms what we are saying...that you were no where to be found in 1750. Your accounts of Ewe history cannot go beyond 1700; let alone 1650; the period between 1510 and 1650 was one of the most excruciating in our history as the tribal kingdoms of Ghana were besieged by Europeans and many of our people captured into slavery. Ewes and Anlos were then not in Ghana or Gold Coast.

But it does not matter. Most of you know about historical accounts of Denis Austen and Sgt Adjitey and 1957 Ghana's Independence - to you, Ghana began with Dr Kwame Nkrumah...That is the problem.

When you appreciate history you have respect for people and institutions. A people with no history will have no respect for any! Calm down and change and embrace everyone and stop your bitterness and so much aggravation.
ABC 12 years ago

Bonso, you're just deceiving yourself thinking your own version of history is THE correct one.

Ghana, as we know it today, started in 1957 when we got our independence. Before that, there was some entity. It is wrong of yo ...
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Bonso, you're just deceiving yourself thinking your own version of history is THE correct one.

Ghana, as we know it today, started in 1957 when we got our independence. Before that, there was some entity. It is wrong of you to call that entity "Ghana". The old Ghana empire does not occupy the area presently known as Ghana. You cannot say "Ewes came to Ghana" as if there was some Ghana that Ewes moved from somewhere and came to.

You are trying to argue that Akan history goes beyond an era that Ewe history does not know. You're confusing things. There was no written history by members of the tribes you mention written at that time. Much of the origin of the peoples in these times is shrowded in mystery and myth. Oral history was running through the generations but you cannot trust all of it. Even the movement of the Ewe people from Notsie is part myth and part actual history. What makes you think Akan/Ashanti history is any more clear cut than Ewe history? Even the Akans also have mystery and myth surrounding the place they came from.

I think Bonso is a young man who doesn't even know the early history of independent Ghana much less things of 300 years earlier. You have a prejudice, absolutely without any proof as prejudices are, that Ewes are bitter! Bitter about what? Tell us exactly what Ewes are bitter about which other tribes are not bitter about?
Bonso 12 years ago

Ghana did not start in 1957. We got self government under Kwame Nkrumah in 1951. The 1957 ceremony was to confirm our Independence but CPP Government were ruling the country six clear years before the pomp of celebration. Y ...
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Ghana did not start in 1957. We got self government under Kwame Nkrumah in 1951. The 1957 ceremony was to confirm our Independence but CPP Government were ruling the country six clear years before the pomp of celebration. You ewes and anlos are so inward looking you only care about nothing else except your own selves...but Ghana is far more than ewedom, Anlogaman..

Ghana has been a Unitary State since the British Protectorate; however before 1874, the tribal kingdoms that exist now in Ghana lived here, well before your people from Volta Region came from Notsie. That is why Volta Region is called No.9 region...because your ancestors came to join Ghana only in the late 19th to 20th century.

Ewes and Anlos bitterness is unjustifiable...ask Francis Kpegah and Kojo Tsikata why they are so bitter?

if you appreciate the history of all peoples of Ghana, you can love Ghanaians outside your Volta region

You ewe scholars must lead the regeneration of Ewe tribalism...embrace others and stop your bitterness
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

If this indeed is the state of knowledge about how Ewes became a part of the Gold Coast and later Ghana among the mass of fellow Ghanaians of the Akan ethnic group, then, woe betides us! Something must be done to remove this ...
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If this indeed is the state of knowledge about how Ewes became a part of the Gold Coast and later Ghana among the mass of fellow Ghanaians of the Akan ethnic group, then, woe betides us! Something must be done to remove this abject ignorance quickly! And this is coming from a person who claimed he read history! We are doomed!

Kojo T, why didn't u look up for my How Some Ewes Became a Part of Ghana and post when this bozo spewed his venomous rubbish? Anyway, I am almost finished with my take on the pre-colonial ethnic imbroglio, so I won't say much here, except re-post my earlier article for the benefit of these ignoramuses!

Andy-K

Andy-K
Bonso 12 years ago

Your knowledge of Ghana seem to begin and end with Denis Austen's Book on Political Evolution of Modern Ghana. But Ghana is far more than this as accounted in most chronicles and summarised here below: Read and research abo ...
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Your knowledge of Ghana seem to begin and end with Denis Austen's Book on Political Evolution of Modern Ghana. But Ghana is far more than this as accounted in most chronicles and summarised here below: Read and research about Ghana. You will enjoy it and also make you more respectful and kinder of other people from the same country. Read now...

"The Akan people are believed to have migrated to their current location from Canaan and Nubia then eastern Sahara Desert and central Sahel into the forested region in West Africa between the 10th and 12th centuries. Many Akans tell their history as it started in the forested region of West Africa as this is where the ethnogenesis of the Akan as we know them today happened.
The kingdom of Bonoman was established as early as the 11th century as a trading state between the Akan and their neighbors, especially those from Djenné, Timbuktu, Bornu among others. Between the 12th and 13th centuries a gold boom in the Akan area brought wealth to numerous Akan peoples. During different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states like Akwamu which stretched all the way to modern Benin, and ultimately led to the rise of the most well known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti. This wealth in gold attracted European traders. Initially the Europeans were Portuguese but, eventually the Dutch and British joined in the quest for Akan gold."

Read History of Ghana and grow wings of love, la!
Pxia 12 years ago

Bonsu writes" I need not go on to discuss Ghana history to you when you can read it yourself here but whatever be the case, Ghana or Gold Coast was already established tribal kingdoms led by the Guans of Winneba, Jasikan and ...
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Bonsu writes" I need not go on to discuss Ghana history to you when you can read it yourself here but whatever be the case, Ghana or Gold Coast was already established tribal kingdoms led by the Guans of Winneba, Jasikan and Gonja, L-O-N-G before the people of Volta Region came!"
Bonsu, the question are, were those Tribal kingdoms you referred to collectively called Ghana or the Gold coast before the arrival of the Europeans and Ewes?.Are the 'Volta Region People' you mentioned, made up of one homogeneous group? And which people occupied as well as had political and legal authority over the territory( present Ewe Areas) before the 'People of the Volta Region' came? As far as my understanding goes, the Gold Coast as an administrative and trading entity and the name, was a creation of the European colonist(not the States/kingdoms within it).Whiles Ghana as a nation came into existence on independence,made up of the Gold coast,Northern Territories,Ashanti and Transvolta.Which territories constituted the Gold Coast in 1850 under the British? Any Knowledge of the Danish Gold Coast which was sold to the British in 1850? You see, the logic of your argument can be likened to one saying, the European Settlers/decendants in present state of the United States of America and the later, African Americans are not Americans because of the pre existence of the Native American Nations/states.{Hence the African Americans should be subsevient to the Whites(second arrivals) and never question them).One group of South African people,either Shonas,Ndebeles or the Zulus are the proper South African because one group was the first to arrival on the territory.Equally the African Caribbeans in Jamaica are not Jamaicans because the Europeans colonist to the island, pre dates the Africans. You seem to discard the process and the dynamic nature of how present day nations/States came about in terms of the migration patterns as also seen in Europe,Australia,New Zealand and other parts of Africa and the subsequent emergence of a new State. The issue is not about who was there before the others but the people and and territory/s which come under one's political authority/sovereignty or have agreed to share and be one nation.In a modern state, no people or group has an ordained/divine right over the others or more Ghanaian than the others as in our caseand the saying "We are the PROPER GHANAIANS".Note,present day Ghana and the British Gold coast after 1850, are not one and the same thing.A selective distortion interpretation and misrepresentation of the historical facts to suit ones bias, will not wash!
Bonso 12 years ago

Clearly you all do not know the history of Ghana. You all think the geographical area of Ghana, formerly Gold Coast just came to existence in 1850 and suddenly became a nation state in 1957 under Nkrumah. Ghana did not begin ...
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Clearly you all do not know the history of Ghana. You all think the geographical area of Ghana, formerly Gold Coast just came to existence in 1850 and suddenly became a nation state in 1957 under Nkrumah. Ghana did not begin with the arrival of Anlos and Ewes of the No. 9 Region! No way.

The Internet has a lot of information on tribal kingdoms that always existed in Ghana or Gold Coast, long before the Ewe and Anlo people of Volta Region fled from the tyranny of Agorkoli in Notsie, walking backwards to their present location as captured in Hogbetsotso between 1850 and 1870 only.

For example Ewe'Anlos can feed on this solid historic piece below:

"The Akan people are believed to have migrated to their current location from Canaan and Nubia then eastern Sahara Desert and central Sahel into the forested region in West Africa between the 10th and 12th centuries. Many Akans tell their history as it started in the forested region of West Africa as this is where the ethnogenesis of the Akan as we know them today happened. The kingdom of Bonoman was established as early as the 11th century as a trading state between the Akan and their neighbors, especially those from Djenné, Timbuktu, Bornu among others. Between the 12th and 13th centuries a gold boom in the Akan area brought wealth to numerous Akan peoples. During different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states like Akwamu which stretched all the way to modern Benin, and ultimately led to the rise of the most well known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti. This wealth in gold attracted European traders. Initially the Europeans were Portuguese but, eventually the Dutch and British joined in the quest for Akan gold." (Wiki...)

In the 1850s, the Europeans have already emptied Ghana of its natural and human resources. Even the most able, strongest, swiftest, tallest, most handsome and beautiful were all lost to the Slave trade, the most inhuman form of bestial exploitation that will never be surpassed throughout history. including Ancient history!

And so the generations that bore such pain has bequeathed to its posterity grace, tolerance, compassion and respect for each other, especially elders in society...which is clearly lacking in many an ewe-anlo of Ghana.

If Ewe scholars can read about history of other tribal kingdoms and real Ghana history, they will understand things, have greater tolerance and eschew the bitterness and separatist tendencies that even make all of them have same political opinion and can support their Woyome, even though he wont give them a penny of his loot

Ewe and Anloga scholars must read the history of other tribal kingdoms and have respect for elders and people in our society!
C.Y. ANDY-K 12 years ago

Pelicles,

Just a moment. First let me make it clear that I am also an ardent Nkrumaist, the uncompromising type who doesn't countenance any political prostitution with either the NDC nor NPP.

Now, why on earth must Nkr ...
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Pelicles,

Just a moment. First let me make it clear that I am also an ardent Nkrumaist, the uncompromising type who doesn't countenance any political prostitution with either the NDC nor NPP.

Now, why on earth must Nkrumah have a Vice? The Const. stipulated who shld act in his absence or indisposition.

It is the first time that I had read that Voltarians do not want others to come to their region! Wow! The perennial complaint is that others, including the Voltarians themselves, do not want to accept postings to the VR. The VR Regional Director of Health, a non-VR person, was recently lamenting that again in the news. Those Others purportedly have certain supernatural fears about the VR, which make them to behave so. But those who ventured and came, they came to see a world far, far different from all the childhood fears put into them. Oh! my! I can regale you with the experiences of some who dared to accept postings in the VR, as teachers, health personnel, etc. or just went there on business, which is now the norm with Akan traders featuring very much on market days now, as in Anloga. More often than not, many don't feel like leaving afterwards. National Service personnel stayed on, etc. If they go to the Ho and Hohoe areas and northern VR, they are just regarded as just one Voltarian, esp. if they are Akans, since Akans form part of the VR, to the surprise of many, just as the many other linguistic groups they never heard of before! But let me tell u abt the adventures of the son of an Asante goldsmith I met here in Woolwich, London, who travelled widely in the Anlo area in the '80s buying old golden ornaments for smelting. The name given to him is "Sikaxoxo", i.e., old gold, he said. He got to know Anlo better than most Anlos, including me, from what he told me! "As for those fetish houses they said you can't enter with your shirt on, as for me, I removed my shirt and entered," he said, much to my amusement. That Asante goldsmith has indeed become a "Nyebro" - My brother - and I pass his shop occasionally to say hello to him. A pity no Ewe said "My brother" to you before!

As for the Voltarians, they simply do not want to revert back to living under the conditions of lack of modern amenities and general lack of devt opps in the VR. Some will say only those in Accra-Tema area get to hear about scholarships and further courses. Some simply want to avoid the demands of the extended family and friends.

I don't know about Michael Dokosi and Nana, whatever, so can't comment on what transpired b/n them. But to jump from that to say sweepingly that Ewes hate Nana is simply another display of the foolishness which has made some Ewes detest the NPP with all their heart. Do you mean that Nana did not get any Ewe votes in the 2008 and 2012 elections??? And no Ewes stood as candidates for the NPP in the VR???

BTW, it wasn't the SC which sat on Justice Kpega's case against Nana. Even I who did not take any interest in the silly case, just as the ongoing election petition circus in the SC, knew that! Anyway, to sweepingly claim that the verdict didn't sit well with Ewes is another fatuous statement! It is just a figment of your putrid imagination and needs no argument to prove so.

As for Victor Owusu's statement, I must confess that only he himself - but since he is dead - and people of his ilk like you can explain what it meant. I've tried to unravel that but gave up, as I found it unscrutable.

How can such ubiguitous people who travel to every nook and corner of Ghana and far beyond in other West African countries,from the Congo to the Senegal where there is fish to catch or land to farm; settled there and become part of those societie; never to return home, said to be inward-looking??? Beats me! What kind of inward-looking is that, leaving your heath and hither to crumble and settling elsewhere?

So are Ewes part of Ghana in your mind or knowledge or not, and therefore part of your unity agenda? I guess the barriers are in your polluted minds, not in the VR.

Andy-K

Ama Adamson 12 years ago

Well said Mr Tamakloe.

Well said Mr Tamakloe.
veep 12 years ago

really? but the writer is not all too certain about his views either.

"He attended Achimota secondary school and ......"

"It goes on to say he attended Achimota Secondary school" ....

so which is which? does he know ...
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really? but the writer is not all too certain about his views either.

"He attended Achimota secondary school and ......"

"It goes on to say he attended Achimota Secondary school" ....

so which is which? does he know he attended this school or is just a hear say? be true to yourselves. you simply don't like the man and anything negative about him is perceived as the truth to you and your ilks..... how come you've never asked all those who contested for that position about their certs? how come you've singled him out? it means you have an ulterior motive. Ayariga claims to have studied in Germany, but nobody ever asked him which school he attended. shame on you all.

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