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Eduola are blessed with a great shrine (Bisuoni) of all ages believed to have been bequeathed to them by one of their great ancestors called Kabiebayo for protection. The god which is the secret behind their success and conquests is consulted in all matters of importance. The custodians of the great shrine of the land (present day Ga and Samuni) are predominantly farmers. They cultivate crops such as cereals, yam and legumes. The land also has a great deposit of shea trees. Livestock keeping is not left out in their agricultural activities. With the Ghana Cedi as the major medium of exchange in commercial transactions, cowries are also accepted for customary and sometimes business transactions. The African Traditional Religion is commonly practiced among the people of Nyetigu, with small sections also being Christians. Traditional festivals among the people of Nyetigu include Jinbenti and Christmas. Jinbenti is celebrated in the first month of the Lunar year. It is an occasion where departed souls are remembered with feasts and sacrifices. In order of succession, the head of tribe automatically becomes the chief priest to the great shrine, Bisuoni. However, in the wake of civilisation and modernity knocking every door, the Eduola still resort to Bisuoni for answers to their developmental challenges. There is high school drop out among them, women being discouraged from undertaking commercial ventures, waste management problems among others.
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Livestock keeping is their major economic activity. The land is also endowed with shea trees and fertile soil for cropping. Shea butter production is common among their women. They are commercially inclined with the Ghana Cedi as a medium of exchange. Cowries are also accepted for customary and sometimes business transactions. The people of Ga mainly practise Islam as their religion. As a result of their religious background, they adopted Idil Fitr and Idil Adhar as their festivals. Ga, like any other human settlement is not without development challenges. Lack of basic social amenities undoubtedly retards its development agenda. The people until recently prefer their male children following cattle to having formal education. At best they are sent to ‘Makaranta’ (Arabic school) to learn the Qur’an in Arabic. They perceive formal education as threat to their religious inclinations. Parents are thus reluctant to financing their wards education. More so, women especially those who lost their spouses are either coerced to remarry close relations of the deceased spouses or left alone to bear the burden of fending for their children’s (orphans) health, education and other needs. The cosmopolitan Ga community with close to 5,000 residents has very limited sanitary facilities. There is only one place of convenience for the community and one eight seater KVIP (toilet) for the Junior high school. The primary school and others who the existing facilities are not accessible to, resort to the ‘free range’ system of defecating.
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The people of Polee engage in farming and river fishing. Sorghum, legumes and yams are their main food crops, with shea nuts being their cash crop. Livestock is also kept on quite substantial scale. They also weave baskets, and ‘zana’ mats. The Ghana cedi is the official currency yet cowries are also used certain transactions. Naajeri has a rich cultural display especially during funerals and festivals such as the Dumba and Jinbenti. Special feasts are like fried ‘bonbo’ and kaanha (bean cake) are served during funeral rites of any the royals. Rural urban drift among the youth is very high as the illiteracy rate among them is close to 90%. Guinea worm until recently was very common among them, because they lack portable sources of drinking water. As at now this community can not boast of a single borehole. Children have to foot a five kilometre distance each day to attend school, and likewise for health a primary facility. Environmental conservation is not to known to the people of Polee as most of the also rely on charcoal burning for a living. Trees are indiscriminately felled without any replacement.
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Domangli, which literary means ‘the enemy surrounds us’ is owned and controlled by the people of Ga. However, the residents of this community with close to 7,000 inhabitants are predominantly Mwalba. It is believed they originated from a town called Mwal in Burkina Faso. Founded by Jotimtey Kuffa, a farming settler several decades ago, Domangli is one of the densely populated communities in the Wa West district of the Upper West Region. The community is located between Nyoli in the Wa West district and Goyiri in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district of the Northern region. Agriculture is their mainstream economic activity with emphasis on food cropping, livestock, and poultry rearing. Basketry and shea butter extraction are other economic ventures the women also find lucrative. One cannot conclude on the trades and artistic features of the Mwalbas without mentioning carving. They are good at carving wood into stools, idols, and even human beings. The Mwalbas are noted for hard and endurance, who will not relent in any endeavour they find themselves. While the Ghana Cedi is the official medium of exchange, barter system of trade as well as the use of cowries for customary and business activities is common practices among the Mwalba. The densely populated Domangli is now challenged by limited farmland for agricultural activity. Additionally, they are being confronted by issues like child labour, teenage marriages, high school drop outs especially among girls, rampant rural urban drift among boys, and violations of women rights. Most of these drawbacks have customary undertones. For instance, except through inheritance women are customarily barred acquiring property. Even a woman is not supposed to send her inherited property to the husbands’ home and pronounce her rightful ownership. Traditional African religion is mainly practised by the people of Domangli. They believe that spirits of their dead ancestors still live with them and have a lot to offer them in areas of security, wealth creation, and other societal concerns. Against this background, it behoves on every family in Domangli to possess their own set of gods they worship. Bougri is the Mwalbas’ traditional festival. It is an occasion where the people appease their gods and ancestors with feasts and seek blessings from them. Its celebration is demand driven; unlike other tribes, such as the Brifos, who have it annually. The 4-day festival is usually accompanied with colourful cultural displays, singing and dancing.
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Emoula is a famous group of people believed to have hailed from Kumbiifu in Burkina Faso. They found their way into Wa and deeply rooted in the upper west region of Ghana through trade. In particular, the Emoula reared horses for sale to ancient rulers and warriors. With great populations, the Emoula are predominantly found in Kumbiahi, Kaleo, Loho (all near Wa) and Kulmasa in the northern region. Kumbiahi, where they first settled is invariably the administrative capital of the Emoula in and around the Upper West Region. The Emoula consider crocodile as their spirit and for that reason taboo it entirely. Any part of this reptile eaten by an Emoula is a dangerous poison which has a resultant effect of death or leprosy. It is believed that during the era of warfare, their great ancestors were pursued until they came across a river they could not cross. Almost losing hope that they were at the mercy of the enemy, their leader (unnamed) made incantations for divine intervention. There and then, a very huge crocodile surfaced from the water which they sat on to enable them cross the river. The crocodile also appeared before the enemy but when they sat on it and it took them to the middle of the river, it discarded them and they got drowned. Thereafter, the ancestor forbade all his progeny from harming or eating crocodile. Kulmasa, which literally means ‘cold or calm wells’ was founded by one of the sons of Dangoli (one of Emoula ancestors at Kumbiahi near Wa) around a well called Bituori. As if history repeated itself, Bituori is flooded with crocodiles and water therein never dries up. These crocodiles peacefully co-exist with the people just at their backyards causing harm to neither human beings nor animals. Attacks by crocodiles on human beings and animals in Kulmasa are clear signs of calamity to befall the people. Dead crocodiles from Bituori are prepared and buried just like human beings. The people of Kulmasa even taboo any other creature (such as fishes and frogs) living in Bituori. Interesting however, the Emoula are not among the ruling class of Kulmasa. Kulmasa is considered part of Daripe (a Gonja controlled land), and as such chieftaincy is in the hands of the Gonjas who have a central administration at Damango in the northern region. The people of Kulmasa are mainly farmers. Sorghum, legumes and yams are their main food crops, with shea tree and cashew being their cash crops. Livestock is also kept on quite substantial scale. While some aspects of barter are still being practised, the Ghana cedi is the official medium of exchange. Cola nut is also a very important commodity among the people of Kulmasa for a lot of their customary practices. Despite a lot of development potentials in and around Kulmansa including a huge tourist potential, poverty still lingers among the people. Low literacy rate, women marginalisation and inadequate social amenities e.g. health care delivery, are identified to be some of their challenges. There is only one borehole serving the close to 3,000 residents of Kulmasa.
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The Manyaala tribe is a group of people believe to have hailed from Manyaw in the Nadowli district of the Upper West Region of Ghana. They are found in present day Isa, Tabiahi and Naaha with amazing populations. Naaha, the biggest of these three villages, is a Manyaala community founded by one wondering hunter by name Dakpankpili believed to have come from Manyaw. Dakpankpili on one of his expeditions at a point became very exhausted, thirsty and hungry. Unable to locate any water nearby, he withered and laid under a tree until a grasshopper came to his rescue. The grasshopper hovered around him severally and sprinkled water on him. Having observed the grasshopper for sometime, he became convinced that the grasshopper had a message for him and finally followed the direction of the grasshopper. He then found a well located on a nearby rock full of water, and some fruits around. He was then relieved and decided to settle around those rocks where he could also strive for some living, hence the name Naaha. The well, located on the rocks became an important god of the Naaha land and the grasshopper being a taboo for consummation by all descendants of this Dakpankpili, the founder of Naaha. Bubulii, god of the well on rocks, is believed to have appeared before the founder as the grasshopper. Water from this well, which is found virtually all year round, is considered very pure and sacred among the people of Naaha. Leadership within the Naaha traditional area however currently rotates between two royal gates: the Pieju Kori (Boriyiri) and Pieju Paani (Yipaala). The people are predominantly farmers. Sorghum, legumes and yams are their main food crops, with shea tree being their cash crop. Livestock is also kept on quite substantial scale. While barter is being practised, the Ghana cedi is the official medium of exchange. Cowries are acceptable for customary practices. Naaha however, lags behind in terms of human resource development. Until recent times, parents within these communities did not see the need to send their children to school. Parents rather took pride in having several children working for them on farms, cattle following, etc. There are no portable sources of drinking water. Female genital mutilation until recently was very high.
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