ABSTRACT
The Kyerepon, along with Larteh, Mamfe, Anum and other Guan groups, claim to be the earliest settlers in the Akuapem hills. Oral tradition and legend recount eleventh-century migrations of small clans of Volta Comoe language speakers en masse and in small groups from northern areas where modern-day Togo, Benin and Burkino Faso converge. They settled throughout the modern-day republic of Ghana. The relevance of history and tradition of Akuapem are expressible in the phrase “tete ka asom ene kakyere” or “ancient things remain in the ears.” Libation, linguists’ staff, oath and song are among the mechanisms of local historicity. Oral histories recount Ga migration to the eastern Gold Coast centuries prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. The Ga established authority over Akans, Guans and Adangbe (Ladoku) neighboring states and peoples. Great Accra (Ayaso) was a major commercial thoroughfare of 120,000 linking its coastal inhabitants to satellite towns and villages in the Akuapem hills and beyond.
