Who Are The Akans of Ghana?

Our Heritage

We have heard MUCH about the Akans in Ghana but Addo Agyei, a lecturer in “Twi” at Hendon College in London, the U.K. tells us in a nutshell who they are and how they migrated to Northern Ghana and calls for Akan to be the OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA. NTAFO are the ANCESTORS of the Akans and they settled somewhere in the present GONJA AREA in the Northern Region about 120 A.D. The Akan movement was no mass migration after the fall of the Ghana Empire in Timbuktu in 1076 A.D. The nation split in 3 main sections The First were the ANCESTORS of the GUAN PEOPLE today. They came down the river between the EDGES of TOGO HILS and when they came down into the COASTAL PLAIN through the SENKYIRE GAP, they turned west wards and filled up the AKWAPIM HILLS pushing on across the DENSU until they reached the sea between WINNEBA and CAPE COAST.
The next section of NTAFO to follow suit were the ANCESTORS of the FANTE. They seem to have followed the line of the rivers TANO and OFFIN. Fante tradition mentions TECHIMAN near the source of the river Tano as home of the Fante nation, so no doubt, they made a LONG STAY THERE. Later on, they moved Eastward until they came in contact with the ASEBUS, one of the Western Tribes of the GUAN and built a town called MANKESSIM. The fighting that followed left the Fantes with possessing of the country around CAPE COAST in which ASEBU remained as a subject tribe. The third and last section of the NTAFO to migrate were the TWI-SPEAKING PEOPLE. They came down towards the sea in between the GUAN and FANTE BONO AREA and settled in the SAVANA country South of the Volta, between the river and the MAMPONG HILLS and filled up the FOREST COUNTRY of the PRA and TANOH valleys with the KWAHU SCARP as the eastern border. The coastal lands were occupied by the FANTES and GUAN. The AKWAMU, one of the most southerly of the TWI SPEAKING PEOPLE reached the neighbourhood of NSAWAM twenty three miles from ACCRA about 1600 A.D. By that time, other Twi speaking states were already being established by peoples further in land.
The earliest TWI SPEAKING STATE to be established was ADANSI. The name of the state means “house building” and legend has it that the Adansi were the first people in Ghana to build Swiss Houses. If this implies that they were the first to settle down in permanent homes it comfirms other evidence that makes ADANSI THE SENIOR.
TWI SPEAKING STATE. AKANS are the largest group in Ghana and they are occupying 5 of the 10 administrative Regions in Ghana namely Central Region, Western Region, Eastern Region, Ashanti Region and the Brong-Ahafo Region respectively.
Therefore Akan is well spoken and understood by many people in Ghana which is becoming the Lingua Franca in Ghana. Akans as Kinsmen have many political, social, religious and cultural institutions although they are LOCAL VARIETIES. There is evidence that the culture which our ANCCESTORS from the North handed down the GENERATIONS will be LOST simply because the present generation are FAST KILLING THE AKAN LANGUAGE by discouraging their wards from SPEAKING, READING, OR WRITING THEIR OWN LANGUAGE. Dear reader, is the Lecturer lying? Education in many Akan homes is the ability of their wards parroting foreign languages like English and French. Past and present governments of Ghana have their hands SOILED with this DEGENERATION OF LITERATURE “ILLITERATE’S of Ghanaian languages and our culture if well over half of the Ghanaian population speak and understand Akan and yet the Akan language cannot be ADOPTED as the OFFICIAL LANGUAGE, then we are worse off than our FOREFATHERS. Who handed our country over to foreign domination. What LEGITIMACY IS IT to ADOPT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE for official use at this stage? Yes the answer is complex because Nigeria, our next door neighbor has over 250 different tribes but they were COMPELLED TO UNITE ONLY through a BRUTAL CIVIL WAR for 3 solid years between THE then BREAKAWAY BIAFRA STATE led by the late General Ojukwu and General Yakubu Gowon who was then the military Head of State from 1969 – 1970 and a total of 2.5 million innocent men, women, children and civilians were killed with BOMBS. HEAVY GUNS, and MISSILES before Nigerians became very United and this is exactly what the Asante/Akyem politicians were planning in Ghana but were stopped by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II” and the Peace Council who foresaw it and advised them to sign the Peace Declaration in Kumasi before the general elections were conducted on 7th December, 2012, and it is binding on all the various political parties otherwise, the country would have been set ablaze by the professional Bomb Throwers. If I were God I would have extended the life of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to 600 years for his traditional and political diplomacy because of what he did during the 2012 general elections.
The Lecturer in “Twi” at the Hendon College in London, UK who once delivered this lecture in Kumasi over 40 years ago did not understand the reason why past and present governments refused to ADOPT THE AKAN LANGUAGE AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE but decided to ADOPT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LIKE ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN GHANA. Now EX- PRESIDENT J.A. KUFOUR HAS PROVIDED THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE LECTURER BY SAYING THAT WE MUST RESPECT ALL TRIBES. HERE WE GO.
President J.A. Kufour has called on Ghanaians especially ASANTES to RESPECT and RECOGNIZE EACH OTHERS TRIBE to forster Unity and National Integration. President Kufour SPECIFICALLY urged ASANTES to treat ALL TRIBES as EQUALS and give them the NEEDED RESPECT and RECOGNITION. He said SOME ASANTES used WORDS that are often TOO STRONG and sometimes OFFEND THE SENSIBILITIES OF OTHER TRIBES in the country. President Kufour said that Kumasi, the Ashanti Region Capital is the melting pot of all ethnic groups in the capital and emphasized the need for ASANTES to set the pace in the nation’s quest for RECONCILIATION AND TOTAL UNITY.
It is not only those who are BORN ASANTES who are ASANTES but all those who identify themselves with some of the virtues of ASANTES. He further stated that ASANTES in particular SHOULD BE SOBERED BY HIS PRESIDENCY and work together with other tribes in the country for the rapid development of the country and unity of the nation. See “Daily Graphic” 19th February, 2001, he spoke at the Manhyia Palace – Kumasi. With this factual speech from a former President of the Republic, who is himself at an Akan the “Twi” lecturer will then know that Akan has not been made the official language of Ghana because of Tribal Superiority spearheaded by the Asante/Akyem politicians in the NPP and the party has paid a bitter price for it but they seem not to have learnt any lessons from their election defeats in 2008 and 2012, let them carry on with their tribal politics – A third humiliation defeat of the NPP is coming in 2016 and they would commit massive suicide.
I first wrote the above article entitled “Who Are The Akans” in March 1981 when the late Dr. Hilla Lamann was been mocked at by some Asantes but he did not pay heed to it since he was surrounded by political crooks like Nana Okutwe Bekoe, an ex-convict. Now, 80% of Ghana’s population forms the Youth, and this is exactly what we MUST be teaching them to know their roots and live peacefully with other tribes, but what do we see since 1979 when the late Victor Owusu and his Popular Front Party while campaigning for votes, he insulted the “Ewes” as inward looking people and so on. The People of the Volta Region teach TRIBALISM from FATHER TO SON against the ASANTES, on the other hand, people of the Ashanti Region also teach TRIBALISM from FATHER TO SON against the EWES since 1979 to date.
On the political front of the NPP- You can never become the Presidential candidate of the NPP if you are not a Native of Ashanti – or a Native of Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region, it has been the tradition of the Danquah/Busia tradition since 1956 to date 2013 and this Asante/Akyem party will now continue marking time for a long time to come if they fail to change their tactics to elect a Ga, Ewe or Northerner to lead the NPP in 2016.
It is a fact that 60% of Ghana’s Exports come from the Western Region of Ghana but the people of that Region does not BRAG like these few Asante/Akyem politicians leading the NPP. These politicians falsely believe that deception and the manufacture of FAT LIES on political platforms as well as on T.V. and radio stations are the BEST VALUES in politics. These politicians are very arrogant and proud not only in politics but every where in the civil and public sector as well as the Ghanaian society. If they falsely believe that they ALONE are intelligent, THEY ARE NORTHERNERS FIRST before coming down South so they must respect their ANCESTORS from the North where they came from, otherwise any Asante/Akyem politician who will pour libation to the river gods and call on their ancestors to give them blessing and long life and then turn round to pour unprintable insults on Northerners the RIVER GODS and our ANCESTORS if they REALLY EXIST in the spiritual world MUST ELIMINATE SUCH PEOPLE FROM THE EARTH WITHOUT ANY MERCY. Now the real tribes in Ghana are Northerners including all Akans as one body-the Gas, Ewes and Krobos totaling four tribes period. If anything at all, these Asante/Akyem politicians must learn from the people of the great Western Region of Ghana – is that clear?
President Mahama’s victory came from patriotic and peace loving Akans who love Ghana and cherish peace and actually called the bluff of the Asante/Akyem politicians leading the NPP and voted massively for the NDC despite the fact that the party was divided sharply between the Rawlings Factor and the new NDC as the leadership described the party then, because the Rawlingses were very bitter, but God saved the NDC and sanity prevailed until the party won the 2012 general elections. ONE TOUCH to the annoyance of the tribal warlords on war path leading the violent prone NPP. It is far better to face the truth no matter how painful and unpleasant, than to resort to soothing falsehood when in opposition or in government in order to SATISFY YOUR SELFISH ENDS- That is it, for I always write to provoke national debate and not to please any person or group of people. Are the Asante/Akyem politicians leading the violent prone NPP listening very well? I am done, but I shall return when the need arise, so you just keep your fingers crossed and enjoy reading this master piece because this is what Ghana youth always want to read and learn for their own future. Is that clear?. I am done I shall return when the need arise.

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CLEMENT SANGAPAREE
MUNICIPAL ORGANIZER
UNITED CADRES FRONT
OBUASI

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E-mail: clementsang@yahoo.com