Hilly Teteman – a mini town with maxi history
KOFI AYIM
Sandwiched between Baika and Bodada in the Oti Region of Ghana is Teteman, a small town about 7 kilometers from Jasikan in the Oti Region and 19 kilometers from Hohoe in the Volta Region.
The eastern part of Teteman is bounded by the Republic of Togo, some few kilometers away. It is part of the Buem Traditional Area. The etymology of Buem is from the word buemu (open it /open the nation up). Teteman is one of eighteen or so towns and villages that make up Buem Traditional Area, with Jasikan as its administrative and largest town.
Teteman, ambiguously pronounced, is a corruption of te te man (ancient town/nation), according to some senior citizens of the town.
Buem district was known as the largest cocoa-producing area in the quondam Volta Region; the accolade still holds true even after the Buem area and other environs were carved out from the Volta Region to form a new Oti Region in 2019.
Teteman, and by extension the larger Buem area, is a farming community with exquisite natural environments. Rainfall is more than average. Cocoa and ginger are the main cash crops, and the town prides itself as the best premium ginger-producing area in Ghana.
The indigenous dialect of the people of Teteman and the larger Buem is lelemi, an amalgamation of Twi and other indigenous languages of Guan. While English and Ewe languages are the primary instructions of neighboring Akpafu and Likpe ethnic schools, English and Twi are used at Teteman and other Buem schools.
Because of its proximity to Togo, some telephone subscribers at Teteman are met with a “Welcome to Togo” greeting when their telephones are first powered up and pick up communication signals of antennae strategically mounted on the hills of Teteman.
This has the tendency of compromising the quality of signal transmission and reception, especially for homes in the foothills of the town.
Migration and Settlement
In times past, inter- and intra-ethnic wars and feuds precipitated migration and resettlements. For example, present-day settlers of Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana migrated from elsewhere in Asante and settled in the Kwahu scarp for strategic reasons.
Kwahu, as it were, is a corruption from the word ko wu (go encounter death), because the settlers would roll down boulders of stones to crush any advancing enemies from the foot of the hill.
The traditional capital of Akuapem kingdom was relocated by Akyem warriors from the footholds of Amanprobi in the valleys of Mamfe to present-day uphill Akropong. The migration and resettlement of Teteman followed a similar pattern.
The ancestors of present-day people of Teteman are believed to have migrated from Techimantia in the Ahafo Region in Ghana. It must be remembered that Ahafo in colonial Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) was part of the Ashanti Region until 1959.
In times past, Ahafo was the abode of master Asante game hunters (Aha-fuo) who supplied same to Asante kings.
The migration from Asante was heavily influenced by the Guan people of Krachi and Nkonya whom they met along the way in their own migratory journeys and might have intermingled with them. Buem may therefore be classified as an amalgamation of Guan and Akan.
While Nkonya resettled in their present location, the Asante migrants continued and took a northeastern trajectory to their present location. But they weren’t the first in that area.
There, they encountered Twi-speaking Akan warriors who were further up the hill. These warriors descended downhill upon being attracted by smoke emanating from the fire of the new settlers.
The old folks intermingled with the newly arrived and informed the latter that their enclave was called Te te man. It is believed that pots, knives, accoutrements, and other implements of life abandoned by the earlier settlers are extant uphill in their ancient village and its environments.
Two names in contemporary Teteman that have survived the test of time from the ancient mountainous warriors are Ogyeabuo and Akamenko.
Traditional Setup
The traditional setup of Buem kingdom is indubitably Akan in nature. Originally set up as a military defense structure, among other things, the paramountcy of any Akan kingdom is surrounded by various towns and villages under a traditional leader and ruler. Thus, the paramountcy of the Buem Traditional Council is located at Bodada.
Bodada was coined from Obuo dada (ancient stone /rock of ages). Jasikan is Adonten (the main or vanguard division), Guama is Benkum (the left wing or division of the Traditional Council), Kudje is Nifa (the right wing or division of the Traditional Council), and Teteman is Kyidom (the rear division of the Traditional Council).
As such, the current traditional ruler of Teteman, Nana Oware Owusu V, an agriculturalist by profession, is also the Kyidomhene of Buem.
Even at its present location, Buem was considered an integral part of the Asante Kingdom up until about the first quarter of the 19th century. Prior, Asante was heavily involved in the process of installing a traditional ruler in Buem.
The first recorded traditional ruler of Teteman, Nana Yaw Owusu Ware, was crowned under Asante hegemony. However, Nana Kwasi Ofori Owusu Ware III was the last Teteman leader to have paid allegiance to Asante under King Prempeh I.
Bodada, Teteman, and Kudje were the last towns of Buem Traditional Area to have withered away and seceded from Asante, according to Mr. Sylvester Ansrogya, a retired accountant and native of Teteman.
Catholicism in Teteman
The contemporary history of Teteman cannot be narrated without linking it to the role, impact, and influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The town is deeply immersed in Catholicism.
The emergence of the Roman Catholic Church in Teteman could be aptly described as by default rather than design, as pointed out by Mr. Ansrogya.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was supposed to have been the premier Christian sect in Teteman, but for unknown reasons, their expected missionary work never materialized.
The coastal town of Keta in present-day Ghana was the springboard from which the Church propagated and proselytized its pastoral work after it crossed over from the then German protectorate of Togoland.
It arrived in Hohoe in 1902 and eventually built the Catholic church in hilly Teteman in 1905, Mr. Ansrogya told this writer. He theorized that the architectural work of the Teteman parish has some degree of resemblance to the Accra cathedral, Adabraka, and a cathedral in the Republic of Togo.
“Dutch missionaries built the Teteman church,” he added.
That Catholicism is widespread in this area and beyond is attested to by the fact that the first Ghanaian Roman Catholic priest, Reverend Father Anastasius Odaye Kofi Dogli – ordained in July 1922 – was a native of Baglo Traditional Area, some few miles from Teteman.
In times past, the Teteman Parish could boast of several trained Reverend Fathers/Sisters/Priests who were sent out elsewhere on pastoral assignments.
Until quite recently every Christian in Teteman was of the Catholic faith, with about 70% of its inhabitants consanguineously related. Roman Catholic therefore became a family church.
A statue of Jesus Christ sitting on an asesedwa throne on top of the church overlooks the town. The church, called “Our Lady of Fatima,” celebrated its centennial in 2005.
Natural Aesthetic
By virtue of mountainous weather, there are no mosquitoes in Teteman. A seasonal waterfall – from July to October – that may be observed from afar adds to the aesthetic nature of this ancient small town.
Deep in the night, chirping of various birds, growling of animals, and humming of nature adds to the soothing and therapeutic nature of the environment.
Once upon a time, the small town of Teteman had the envious reputation of being called Small London, Bombay City, etc., in the then Volta Region because it had a power plant provided by the Roman Catholic parish that no other town had.
While citizens of Teteman were basking in nightlife under electricity, Ho, the regional capital of the Volta City, only had electricity at some few select government and missionary homes.
Ghana’s current Minister of Sports and Recreation, Hon. Kofi Adams, is an indigene of Teteman.