A renowned historian, Professor Irene Naa Kokoi Odotei, has disclosed the origin of the names of some towns Ghana’s capital city, Accra.
She said, the names originate from names of persons who first settled in the area, a physical feature, or the outcome of migration from one place to another.
Osu
“Have you heard of Osudoku? Basically, some of these places you find that there may be a little conflict here and there and they move from where they are and go somewhere else. So, Osu is part of Osudoku and they moved and came to the coast and settled at a place and called the place Osu. So that’s how, and then when the Europeans came, they built their fort and castles there, Osu castle and when they built more people joined them and it became a big town.”
La
“La is part of Ladoku. It was inland and then they had a war with their neighbours and they moved out of the place. They had a war with Shai and they moved out and stayed in different places. As they were coming, they got lost and said “Mayera”. They moved on and got to Ajangote and from Ajangote, they came back to the coast.”
Achimota
Achimota was formerly the site for slave trade. People were occasionally kidnapped as a way of acquiring slaves. Those who found themselves to be in the slave system never expected to receive the kind of harsh treatment they received, thus they took advantage of the chance to flee, escaped and made their way to Achimota forest where they hid. The reason was that if they address themselves by name their owner or anyone else will recognize them and return them into slavery, thus you don’t call people by their real names. This is what resulted in the phrase “atsiii m) ta” so Achimota is a Ga phrase which means ‘you don’t call people by their real names.’
Malejor
“Male” is the name of the founder and the “jor” means valley, according to the geographical feature of the area. “Malejor” literally means ‘Male’s Valley.’ Other places like Ayimensa, Abossey okai were also named after their founders.
Mataheko
Mataheko is a name that was generated from an expression which means”Let me stay here” or “I wll sit somewhere.”
Dzorwulu
Dzorwulu means “a big valley.
Legon
Legon was a hill where an animal called “Le” from the antelope family could be found. This hill was hunting grounds for people who wanted this animal for various purposes.
As a result, the Le-gon eventually became Legon due to how people pronounced the name.
“Legon, that fortunately for me, my grand father decided to give me the history of Legon. Right, and he said it was a hill where there were a lot of animals called “Le” It was like a hunting ground for those animals. And its Legon because the way it was said, Legon, those who are going to pronounce they will pronounce it the way they see it. In fact they told me the English name of “Le” but I forgot.”
Adjiriŋano
“Adjiri ŋano means Adjiri’s field. ŋano means field or grassland. Adiiri is the name of the founder like Ayi Mensa and Ashaley Botwe.”
Professor Irene Naa Kokoi Odotei said this in an interview on Joy FM, Wednesday 13th March, 2024.
Jazmin Asumadu