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.