Asuoyeboa! A hunter, a stream and a town
The history, creation or emergence of towns or kingdoms in Ghana is largely not documented; they are handed down by oral tradition from generation to generation.
And the creation of Asuoyeboa in the Kwadaso municipality of the Ashanti Region is no exception.
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The exact discovery date is not actually known, but according to an elder of the town (now known as New Town), Opanin Owusu Akyaw, the town was discovered and named by a hunter at the time called Yeboah.
According to oral tradition, Yeboah discovered a stream behind the current SSNIT Flats (known as the old town) and decided to combine his name and that of the stream or river known in the Akan language as nsuo (water).
At the time, there were few settlers, mostly farmers in that area surrounded by a huge forest spreading up to Sapase in the Atwima Nwabiagye District of the region.
A town is born
Without a recognised name, the hunter unilaterally gave birth to the town and turned the river into a revered deity, which till date, has become a recognised convergence point for invoking and overturning curses (Dua bᴐ).
Just about that time, officials of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) had written to the then Asantehene, Prempeh I, for a land to build houses for workers.
After a long search, Asuoyeboa became the destination for the project to start.
As a result, the current Asuoyeboa town became the resettlement place for those living close to the river, who were mostly farmers.
Generally consisting of three major tribes or clans/families, Denkyira, Asiakwa and Ginyase or the Asuo anu tribes, the exodus began.
It is worth noting that because at the time the town had no substantive chief, the then Asantehene appointed the then Agogohene to serve as the overlord.
Agogo chiefs
Under the arrangements, the first chief under the Agogo stool land to have led the people to their present location was called Nana Darkwah and was later succeeded by Nana Kwabena Yinkah and Nana Yaw Mensah.
The elder, Mr Akyaw, was indeed, one of the young men at the time in 1945 to have joined the exodus train.
Largely known as a fetish community or a town governed by the powers of the river, many believe there is a myth that their ancestors have not helped to break.
For instance, it is believed that there are specific streams or gutters in the town such as the Abonsuoaa and the Akokosu streams near the Nankaba Church that collect daily taxes spiritually from the people each time they cross the streams.
Even though the narrator could not confirm this assertion, some spiritualists and people of the traditional faith that the Daily Graphic engaged pegged the daily tax at 50Gp once such deified streams were crossed.