Konkomba

The Konkomba recount that they were driven out of the Yendi area by the Dagomba. Dates vary: some scholars suggest the mid-sixteenth century, others the mid-seventeenth, and the Konkomba themselves say it was about ten generations ago. Under the Dagomba, they had to pay tribute to be allowed to farm the land.

In 1994 and 1995, a war in northern Ghana pitted the Konkomba against the Dagomba, Nanumba and Gonja in disputes over land and recognition of their chiefs. Peace talks culminated in the Kumasi Accord, signed on March 30, 1996, by delegations from seven peoples of the region.

Almost everyone works in farming. In Accra, Konkomba traders sell yams, supplying the capital. Each village is usually divided into two lineages: the lineage of the land, associated with the founders and rituals, and the lineage of the people, which manages everyday life.

The utindaan, the earth priest, leads the rites of the planting season and seeks the goodwill of the land and the ancestors. For the Konkomba, work, family and faith are intertwined in the soil.

Traditional religions have a strong presence among the Konkomba, and there are also Christians and Muslims. In rituals associated with the land, places such as trees and groves are considered sacred.

The Christian faith reached the region in the twentieth century through Pentecostal, Catholic and other churches. Even so, in many places churches still have little influence.

The Likpakpaln New Testament was published in 1977, followed by the Bible, dedicated in Saboba in 1997, with a new edition in 2009. But not all Konkomba speak the same way: a 1971 study concluded that Likoonli, spoken in the north, and Lichabol are not mutually intelligible. Christians in the north therefore asked for a translation in their own variety. The New Testament is also available to read and listen to online.

In many villages, the church has limited reach, and Konkomba Christians need to take the teaching of the gospel to places it has not yet reached, in Ghana and Togo. Since the language has varieties that are not mutually intelligible, a translation made for one may not serve another.

Peace with neighboring peoples remains a need after decades of disputes over land and chieftaincy.

There is also the situation of women: field research conducted in 2008 by a Ghanaian human rights body interviewed young women and Konkomba families in Yendi, Nanumba North and Saboba districts and documented forced marriages. Churches need teaching that helps Christians grow in faith, as well as local leaders to serve other Konkomba communities.

In 2014, the New Testament in the northern variety, Likɔɔnl, was printed and celebrated in Gbintiri, after years of work by Konkomba translators and a local committee connected with the churches.