Kwahu

 ( Regions Of Ghana ) 

Kwahu or Kwawu is an area and group of people that live in Eastern region of Ghana and are part of the Twi-speaking Akan people group. The region has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, given its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu lies in the Eastern Region of Ghana, on the western shore of Lake Volta. The Kwahus share the Eastern Region with the Akyem and Akuapem people, as well as the Adangbe-Krobos. Among Kwahu lands, a significant Migrant worker population works as traders, farm-hands, fisherfolk, and caretakers in the fertile waterfront 'melting pot' of Afram plains. These migrants are mostly from the Northern and Volta Region Regions, as well as, some indigenous Guang people from the bordering Oti Region and Brong-Ahafo regions live in the Afram Plains area. Kwahus are traditionally known to be wealthy traders, owning a significant number of businesses and industries in Ghana.

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History The name Kwahu, according to historians, derives from its myths of origin, "The slave (akoa) died (wu)," which was based on an ancient prophecy that a slave would die so the wandering tribe of Akan people would know where to settle. This resonates with the etymology of the Ba-wu-le (Baoulé) Akans of the Ivory Coast, whose Warrior Queen Awura Poku had to sacrifice her baby in order to cross the Komoe river. The myth was part of the historical stories of the Agona matriclan, the first paramount lineage of Kwawu, and was later adopted by the Bretuo-Tena matriclan (Twidan), who later replaced them. Other historians trace the name Kwahu to the dangers associated with making the mountainous terrain a habitat, as it became known as a destination of no return: go at your own peril or "ko wu" in the Twi language. This latter version is thought to have come either from their ancestral people in Mampong, who did not support fragmentation or from enemies who perished in trying to take the fight to the Kwahu in the treacherous mountains.

Kwahu people trace their origins to Adansi, like other forest Akan groups like the Akyem, Denkyira, Akwamu and Asantes. The first migration from Adansi happened long before the Asante Confederacy existed. Long before the Asante-Denkyira war of1699-1700, Nana Osei Twum, the first Chief Agonaman in the Adansi Morobem, his nephew Badu, his younger brother Kwasi Tititii and a slave Kofabra ("fetch it") together with Frempong Manso (who later founded Asante-Akyem stool land in the Asante Kingdom), Nana Ameyaw and Nana Adu Gyamfi, (founders of Asante Afidwase and Asante Gyamase respectively) fled from the cruelty of the King of Denkyira who had captured Adansi in about 1650, to find a new land. The group got divided, and the trekking Kwahu party led by Osei Twum moved up the mountains and stopped first at Dampong, whereupon Osei Twum and his party then moved on and discovered the Mpraeso Scarp. The trekking Kwahus continued to search for suitable land to settle. Thus, from Mount Apaku, where they first settled, they came across a stream with a rock in it shaped like a stone jar, and Osei Twum, interpreting this as a good omen, decided to settle there and called the place Obo-kuruwa or Bukuruwa, meaning stone jar. Another group from Mampong later settled in Kwahu. This is documented in K. Nkansah Kyeremateng' /ref>

The paramount king of Kwawu resides at Abene, north of Abetifi towards the Volta. The strategic location of Abene, along with a dreaded militia that guarded the route (led by Akwamu warriors), helped stave off attempts by colonial forces to capture the Omanhene. Till this day, the road from Abetifi to the small enclave housing the king is plied with some unease, given the stories recounted.

Before their leaders seized the opportunities presented with the signing of the Bond of 1844, Kwahu was an integral part of the Asante Kingdom, attested by available maps of the period. Asante would wage punitive and protracted wars against fellow Akans, including Denkyira, Akwamu, Akyem, Fante, Assin, but never fought Kwahu. Abetifi (Tena matriclan) is the head of the Adonten (vanguard). Obo (Aduana, Ada, Amoakade) is the head of the Nifa (Right Division) Aduamoa (Dwumuana, Asona) is the head of the Benkum (Left Division). Pepease is the head of the Kyidom or rear-guard division.

As part of the Asante Empire, Kwawu had an Asante emissary, governor or ambassador at Atibie, next to Mpraeso, of the Ekuona matriclan. To indicate its independence from Asante in 1888, the Kwawu assassinated the Asante emissary in Atibie, about the time of the arrival of the Basel missionaries from Switzerland. Fritz Ramseyer had been granted a few days of rest during a stop at Kwahu while en route to Kumasi with his captors. He recovered quickly from a bout of fever while in the mountains. Upon gaining his freedom later from the Asantehene, he sought permission to build a Christian Mission in Abetifi, thereby placing the town on the world map and opening the area to vocational and evangelical opportunities. Although it remains a small town, Abetifi still draws the reputation of a Centre of Excellence in Education with various institutions from the ground up. A Bernese country house built by Ramseyer, typical of the Swiss "Oberland", is well-kept and remains a symbol of early Christian Missionary Zeal. Obo, traditionally pro-Ashanti, led the opposition against the Swiss.

Until recently, Kwahus, in comparison to other Akan groups such as the Ashanti and Fanti, shunned political activism, preferring to engage in business and trading activities. They are therefore usually under-represented in government appointments.

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Eulogy The spelling of "h" in this context is the official designation from the African Studies Centre at the University of Ghana and closely reflects the pronunciation. Swiss missionaries from Basel introduced the "h" to prevent the first syllable, "Kwa," from being pronounced as "eh". It's important to note that the "h" is not pronounced separately in the name. For Anglo-Germanic speakers, the pronunciation of "Ku-A-U" might be easier, while Francophone speakers will likely pronounce it as "KoU-AoU" without difficulty.

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Educational institutions Kwahu has several educational institutions across all the towns and villages. The Presbyterian Church has a university and teachers' training college in the town of Abetifi. Presbyterian University College is also located in Kwahu. There are also two nursing training institutions at Nkawkaw, owned and managed by the Catholic Church and a government nursing school at Atibie.

Below are some of the many secondary schools in Kwahu.

• St Peter's Senior High School
• Kwahu Tafo Senior High School
• Nkawkaw Senior High School, Kawsec located at Nkawkaw.
• Atibie Nursing and Midwifery training college
• Kwahu Ridge. Senior High Technical
• Mpraeso Senior High School
• St. Paul's Senior High School, Asakraka
• Kwahu Tafo Senior High School
• Bepong Senior High School
• Nkwatia Kwahu Presbyterian Senior High School
• St. Dominic's Senior High School
• Abetifi Secondary Technical School
• Abetifi Presbyterian Senior High School
• St. Joseph Technical School
• Amankwakrom Fisheries Agricultural Technical Institute, Afram Plains
• Donkorkrom Agricultural Senior High
• Mem-Chemfre Community Senior High School
• St. Mary's Vocational and Technical Institute, Afram Plains
• Maame Krobo Community. Day School,
• St. Fidelis Senior High and Technical School
• Fodoa Community Senior High School

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Economy The Kwahu, an Akan people living on the eastern border of Ashanti in Ghana, are well known for their business activities. An enquiry into the reasons for their predominance among the largest shopkeepers by turnover in Accra traced the history of Kwahu business activities back to the British-Ashanti War of 1874, when the Kwahu broke away from the Ashanti Confederacy, focusing on the rubber trade, which continued until 1914. Rubber was carried to the coast for sale, and fish, salt, and imported commodities, notably cloth, were sold on the return journey north. Other Kwahu activities at this time included trading in local products and African beads.

The development of cocoa in south-eastern Ghana provided opportunities for enterprising Kwahu traders to sell there the imported goods obtained at the coast. Previously, itinerant traders, the Kwahu began to settle for short periods in market towns. In the 1920s, the construction of the railway from Accra to Kumasi, growing road transportation, and the establishment of inland branches of the European firms reduced the price differences which had made trading inland so profitable. In the 1930s, the spread of the cocoa disease, swollen shoot, in the hitherto prosperous south-east, finally turned Kwahu traders' attention to Accra. Trading remained the most prestigious of Kwahu activities, and young men sought by whatever means they could to save the necessary capital to establish a shop.