Logba people

Picture of the main street leading into the mountain village of Logba Tota in the Volta Region of Ghana. The old (now derelict) Chiefs palace is visible on the skyline.

A girl sells produce in Logba

The Logba people live in the Volta Region of Ghana, east of the Volta Lake in the mountains of the Ghana-Togo borderland. Most Logba towns and villages are situated along the trunk road from Accra to Hohoe. They include the following settlements: Wuinta, Akusame, Adiveme, Andokɔfe, Adzakoe, Alakpeti, Klikpo, and Tota. Tota is located high in the Ghana Togo Mountains to the east of the Accra-Hohoe road. Alikpeti is the commercial centre of Logba, while Klikpo is traditionally the seat of the head of the Logba people. The Logba people are primarily subsistence farmers, producing cassava, maize, yams and forest fruits, supplemented by cash crops like cocoa, coffee and sawn mahogany logs. The Logba area is known for its scenery, which includes waterfalls, cliffs, and limestone formations, including one or two known small caves with minor speleothems.

Language

Logba is a Kwa language. There are approximately 7 500 speakers. The Logba people call themselves and their language Ikpana, which means ‘defenders of truth’. Logba is different from Lukpa of Togo and Benin, which is also sometimes referred to as Logba.

The dominant language in the region is Ewe, closely followed by Twi. Most Logba people are bilingual in Ewe. South of the Logba area live the Avatime people. Logba is only distantly related to its direct neighbours Avatime and Nyagbo-Tafi; according to Bernd Heine (1968) it is more closely related to the Akpafu and Santrokofi languages spoken northwards.

Origins

It is generally agreed that the Logba people are not the original inhabitants of the area they now reside in. There have been two hypotheses as to the origin of the Logba people. Heine (1968, following Debrunner), proposed that the Logba are descendants from the makɔ́ people, having fled south after a defeat in the second half of the 18th century. However, the Logba people themselves relate that they have come together with the Gbe peoples from Ketu. The latter view is advanced also by Dorvlo (2004).

Location

Logba Tota on Wikimapia

Ethnic groups in Ghana
Indigenous	Abidji Abron Agave Ahafo Ahanta Akyem Anlo Ewe Anyi Assin Avatime Bimoba Bissa Chumburu Dagaaba Dagomba Dyula Efutu Evalue Ewe Fante Frafra Ga-Adangbe Gonja Guang Gurunsi Jakhanke Karamogo Kassena Konkomba Krobo Kusasi Kyode Logba Mamprusi Nafana Nzema Tallensi Tem Tshi Wala Yeji
Non-indigenous	Hausa Yoruba Mossi Zarma Soninke African-Americans Arabs Chinese Indians Tabom