TENGEY, DZOKOTO I

Tengey Dzokoto I (187-1911) was a warlike chief of Anyako, a town on the northern shore of the Keta lagoon that formed part of the Ewe state of Anlo, on the east bank of the Volta River in what is now the extreme southeast of Ghana. Tengey strongly opposed the imposition of British rule upon Anlo during the 1880s and went into exile in the German colony of Togo from 1889-99.

He was the son of chief Dzokoto of Anyako, who also held the position of commander of the left wing, or division, of the Anlo army. When the chief became too old to rule effectively, Nyaxo Tamakloe of Wuti was enstooled in 1869 as the commander of the left division. This aroused the hostility of Tengey, who had expected to succeed his father in both his offices. He extended this hostility to the British government, with which Tamakloe was friendly. He aligned himself with Geraldo de Lima, an influential Ewe trader, who was also opposed to the British. Both men tried to arrange for the cession to Germany of the Anlo country inland from the Keta Lagoon.

On January 15, 1885, Tengey and his forces rescued de Lima, who had been arrested by the British commissioner at Keta, and was being taken to Accra by road. During the fighting between Tengey’s forces and those of the district commissioner, de Lima was recaptured while Tengey escaped. He then acquired some German Snider rifles, with which he fought several engagements with the British forces between 1885-89.

At Tsrekumé, to the west of Keta Lagoon, Tengey was finally defeated in April 1889. He then escaped into exile in the German colony of Togo, to the east. This marked the end of armed resistance to the British administration. In 1899 Tengey was allowed to return, after entering into a strict bond with the British. By the terms of the agreement, he surrendered his arms and had to report regularly to the British district commissioner. He was then restored to his position as chief of Anyako. He died in 1911.

D. E. K. AMENUMEY