TOHUGU (TOHOGO)

Tohugu (Tohogo), who flourished in the second half of the 15th century, became the first Nayiri (paramount chief) of Mamprusi (Mamprugu) in what is now northeastern Ghana in about 1450. The events which followed his accession to the paramountcy established by his father Gbewa, led directly to the emergence of Mamprusi and Dagomba as definite political entities.

Gbewa had carved out a kingdom around Pusiga, near Bawku, in the extreme northeast of Ghana, sometime during the first half of the 15th century, and after a long reign was succeeded by his eldest son, Zerile (Zitiri, or Sirili). Zerile’s reign ended abruptly and in tragic circumstances, however, after an army which he led in a war against the Grumah was decisively routed, and he, together with many others, was taken prisoner.

The successor to Zerile was to be another son of Gbewa, named Kotam, but partly because he was away from Pusiga, and partly because the Grumah were expected to invade Pusiga from the northeast, the kingmakers stated that Tohugu should be the successor. It is said that Tohugu persistently declined the honour of modesty, partly because the fate of Zerile was still unknown, and no successor should therefore be chosen until it was certain that the incumbent was dead, and partly because Zerile believed that Kotam had a prior claim to the paramountcy. The kingmakers, who did not share his misgivings, pressed him to accept. His initial reluctance is re-enacted each time a Nayiri is elected. The Nayiri-elect is customarily required to show a token resistance when approached by a spokesman of the kingmakers, and it is to overcome this resistance that he is “arrested” and ritually installed as Nayiri.

Shortly after his election, Tohugu fled from Pusiga to Mamprugu, the village which was to become the capital of the Mamprusi kingdom, which is sometimes also called Mamprugu. The explanation offered by Mamprusi oral tradition for Tohugu’s flight is highly improbable. According to these sources, Tohugu fled because Kotam, who had accepted his election as a fait accompli, did not abide by his pledge to remain at Zoa, near Bolgatanga, further to the west, but proceeded towards Pusiga at the head of an army. Tohugu then sought refuge at Mamprugu, the only place where he felt reasonably secure because his mother, Birinkuma, came from there.

Tohugu was not, however, the only son of Gbewa who left Pusiga at this time. Sitobu, his younger brother, also did so. Whatever was Sitobu’s reason for departure, it had nothing to do with Kotam’s advance upon Pusiga. It would therefore appear, as suggested by Dagomba oral traditions, that Tohugu fled because of a fratricidal struggle that broke out between him and Sitobu following his election.

Allegedly he was able to escape certain death at the hands of Sitobu only because of some magical powers that he possessed. The dispute over the succession apparently came to an end when the vast territories which Gbewa and his sons and lieutenants had subjugated were divided into two: the territories to the east of Namburugu, (which is south of Pusiga) became the kingdom of Mamprusi under Tohugu, while those to the south of Namburugu became the kingdom of Dagomba under the rule of Nyagse, Sitobu’s son.

From Mamprugu, which remained the capital during his reign, and where he subsequently died, Tohugu devised an administrative machinery which has remained the basis of the political structure of Mamprusi ever since. He carved up Mamprusi into five provinces, to each of which, except the one he ruled directly himself, he appointed his sons as rulers. It was also he who created the female chieftaincies of Samni, Tamboo, and Kperitumi, which are occupied either by princesses who have passed the menopause or by their fairly elderly sons.

A. A. ILIASU