Abokobi — Blessed in the books of history
There are places that are destined for fame. No matter their current state, their heritage alone is enough to mark them out as special. In Ghana, a small town called Abokobi is one such place.
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A popular Ga folk song would tell you that Abokobi earned her reputation from delicious cassava fufu . But that is only a big ‘tooli.’ Yes, ‘Abokobi duade fufui’ is a reality, but what engraves this place’s name in history is of global and celestial significance.
Abokobi is unique because since it was founded 160 years ago, it has been a purely Christian settlement administered by the Basel Missionaries, the Scottish Missionaries who took over the Holy ministry work from the Germans during the First World War, and then later by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana .
By virtue of its Christian community character, there is not a single drinking bar in the town, for instance. If you are familiar with how suburbs of towns that have ‘Salem’ conduct themselves, you would get the picture. But here, instead of a quiet small section of town, imagine the whole town being a Salem. That is Abokobi.
If you are still wondering, this community is in the Ga East Municipal Assembly in Greater Accra. It is about 30 km from Accra and off the highway towards Aburi. Actually, the town lies at the foot of the Akwapim Range and originally heavily-forested. Time was when Abokobi stood for the farthest boundary of Accra. Today, it is gradually getting caught up in the spreading web of the city.
My own connection with this town occurred about 20 years ago when an uncle of mine was appointed headmaster of Abokobi Presbyterian Boys Boarding School. Now, this school is one of the first boarding elementary schools in the Gold Coast. Himself a Presbyterian, Mr F.K. Akpabli was the first non-native to head that proud institution.
Personally, the fact that my uncle lived there meant visits; just as I had visited him in his previous posts at Oyarifa, Teshie and Nungua. I was struck by the kind of place Abokobi is. Though not a village, it wasn’t like other suburbs of Accra. There was a certain carefulness about this place; the quietness of the town, the gentle conduct of the people…something I couldn’t place my finger on.
Before I even go on, let me say that with all its history and uniqueness, this town should be in a profitable twin-town partnership. Indeed, isn’t it odd that Abokobi does not have a visitor centre? This is something the town folks and the Ga East Municipal Assembly should work on. This is because when it comes to heritage tourism, there is a goldmine here.
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An affection I have for this place is the nice way its name sounds. Abo-ko-bi. Perhaps, it is this rhythm-rich name that has inspired works of art and songs that have adopted the name. In fact, there are restaurants abroad that have taken up the name of this town.
But how did Abokobi come about? According to Presbyterian Church of Ghana records, in 1852 the British Government, which was then ruling Ghana, proposed to impose a tax known as the Pool Tax Ordinance for the people of the colony. The chiefs and people of the coastal towns notably Osu, La, Teshie and Nungua did not only protest this programme verbally, but resorted to violent resistance to register their anger and dissatisfaction.
The colonial authority, sensing danger decided to quell the resistance by bombing the four coastal towns by the British warship, M. V. Scourge. However, before dropping the bombs, the British advised the nationals of other countries resident in the target areas to evacuate. But the Basel Missionaries (Presbyterians) then resident at Osu, refused to leave for fear of losing their very expensive commodity, their converts.
As a result, they suffered very heavy losses; their houses were damaged and several valuable possessions were either destroyed or looted. With fear and trepidation, the four missionaries, namely Johannes Zimmermann, Augustus Steinhauser, W. Locher and J. Stanger left for Accra (Gamashie) to take refuge at the Methodist Mission, headed by Rev. Wharton.
A few days later, J. Zimmermann and A. Steinhauser together with some 11 seminary students, house helps and some converts left for a piece of land Andreas Riis had previously bought for the mission at Abokobi.
The entire party numbered 30 arrived during the last week of September 1854. The first Sunday after their arrival fell on October 1. On this day, they celebrated the Eucharist and marked the beginning of the church at Abokobi. The other Basel Missionaries left with Rev. Wharton in Accra, followed up to Abokobi in November the same year.
With regard to the township, we are told that on arrival, they found four houses or huts already in existence; one occupied by three Christians, (one Akwetey, his wife and a gentleman called Andreas). The rest were occupied by non-Christians, perhaps some of the eight slaves Riis placed there as caretakers. Thus, the name Abokobi predated the arrival of the missionaries.
However, their arrival and missionary activities injected new dynamism into the growth and development of the village. Thus, the present day Abokobi was lifted from the remnants of old Abokobi by missionary influence.
This paid off, for the missionaries managed to settle their African converts who had virtually been alienated by their families in the coastal towns previously mentioned. Meanwhile, more converts traced and followed them to this new place where they settled peacefully and concentrated on their newfound faith in God.
The people also went into farming, and so until this day, this Christian town is basically considered a farming community.