People & Culture

Four main groups

According to tradition, the Guan represent the oldest of the country’s groups. They migrated to Ghana from around AD1000.  Guan people can still be found in a few isolated places.

Love and marriage

In this video…Ghanaian marriage rituals are explained.  If a man wants to marry a woman in Ghana, he must pay marriage rights to the woman’s family as well as asking permission.

Today, Ghanaians can be divided into four main regional groups sharing similar languages and culture:

  1. Mole-Dagbani, of the Northern Region
  2. Ewe, east of Lake Volta
  3. Ga-Adangbe, of the east
  4. Akan (including the Anyi, Asante/Ashanti, Baule, Fante and Guang), who comprise more than half the population and live across the south and centre of Ghana.

Of the over 40 languages and 70 different dialects spoken in Ghana, the Akan languages of Twi (the mother tongue of roughly 50 percent of people), Ashanti and Fante are the most common.

Chieftaincies

Throughout Ghana, villages and towns are part of chieftaincies and it is customary for visitors to pay their respects to the local chief when they visit. Among most groups, such as the Akan societies, chiefs are elected to the position, normally by a council of elders.  The elders have the power to overrule a chief’s decisions or remove him if he acts inappropriately, though the role of the chief is largely ceremonial today.

When a chief is appointed, his position of power is symbolised by the possession of a royal stool.  This is often made of wood and blackened when a chief dies.

Local festivals

Ghanaians have a number of local festivals throughout the year.  Some of these ask for a blessing or protection of an area, such as the Bakatue festival in July which marks the new fishing season.

Festival

In this video…Children at the SOS Children’s Village in Tema, Ghana are having a festival.  It is typical of festivals held all over Ghana: colourful, loud, with lots of singing, dancing and arts and crafts on show.

Festivals held in the spring may ask for good rains, such as the Homowo festival of the Greater Accra region.  In the autumn, they may give thanks for the harvest, such as the Kobine in the Upper West region.

Some festivals commemorate historical events or migrations, such as the famous Aboakyir deer-hunting festival in May.  During this festival, two groups of hunters dressed in full traditional regalia compete to capture an antelope alive with their bare hands.

During the Hogbetsotso or ‘Exodus’ Festival in November, the Ewe people mark their escape from a tyrannical ruler. Traditionally-dressed chiefs lead lively processions of drummers and dancers through the streets.

Festivals such as these enable Ghanaians to show off their fine jewellery and textiles, particularly the intricate handwoven kente cloth with its bold geometric patterns and colours.