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Assistance and resistance of (hydro-)power: Contested relationships of control over the Volta River, Ghana

“…The Akwamu share similar ritual activities and traditional beliefs with many other Akan groups (cf. Agyekum, 2015;Rattray, 1923Rattray, , 1927Wilks, 2001). Along with many other southern Ghanaian societies (cf.…”

“…For the Akwamu, their history and continued identity are tied to a privileged relationship with the spiritually imbued Volta River. This connection is traced to a conflict with the Akyem people in 1729 and 1730 which triggered the Akwamu's original crossing of the river (Agyekum, 2015;Fynn, 1971: 70-71;Wilks, 2001). Wilks writes that:…”

“…The Akwamu are a part of the Akan-speaking people located in the Eastern Region in the southern part of modern-day Ghana. Originally the Akwamu were a large, military-organised people with territories expanding vastly to the west and later the east of the Volta River in modern-day Ghana, Togo and Benin (Agyekum, 2015; Wilks, 2001). However, due to historical military defeats the Akwamu now claim ownership over a much smaller area of land north and south of the Akosombo Dam around Lake Volta and the Volta River.…”

“…For the Akwamu, their history and continued identity are tied to a privileged relationship with the spiritually imbued Volta River. This connection is traced to a conflict with the Akyem people in 1729 and 1730 which triggered the Akwamu’s original crossing of the river (Agyekum, 2015; Fynn, 1971: 70–71; Wilks, 2001). Wilks writes that:A section of the defeated Akwamu army retreated eastwards but were pursued by a rebel force of hill peoples and overtaken whilst trying to cross the Volta … It seems likely however that a number of the loyal Akwamus did succeed in crossing the Volta to the relative safety of the east bank where they established a town that was later to become the new (and present) Akwamu capital … Akwamu traditions tell of a time when an Akwamu army, closely pursued by the enemy, arrived at the Volta near Senchi only to find no canoes available for the crossing.…”

“…When all seemed lost a bush pig was seen to make its way to the opposite bank, and the whole army was able to follow. (Wilks, 2001: 86)Agyekum writes how ‘Akwamu traditions tell of the miraculous fording of the Volta … This fording was attributed to some … bush pigs … which were believed to have been the transformation of the Akwamu war-god’ (Agyekum, 2015: 139–140). While the precise Akwamu god attributed the act of transforming into a bush pig is debated, the account of the crossing and the belief in divine intervention by one of the Akwamu gods was echoed and elaborated by certain contemporary Akwamu research participants during my fieldwork conducted in Ghana in 2016, such as Nana Samanhyia Darko III, an Akwamu chief (2016, personal communication) and Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, the Akwamu paramount chief (2017, personal communication).…”