History/cultureFrom Ho to Yendi Chieftaincy under German Rule 1890/1899 – 1914

In 1884 Imperial Germany started to colonize Togo. The German administration ruled from the western border of Benin, stretching across to the river Volta and shared an artificial border with the British along the coastal belt of the Gold Coast, which included Keta in the South.

The German administration also established direct rule over what is today the Eastern part of Ghana, a stretch of land 540 km long. The whole territory of 33,000 square kilometres was administered by six Germans centred in Ho, Kpandu, Kete Krachi and Yendi.

The Chiefs were the conduits through which the Germans ruled, coerced to do so through brute force, sometimes through bribery and by introducing obedient chiefs. In 1914 the Germans disappeared, but what happened to their chiefs? On Tuesday, April 08, at Goethe-Institut in Accra, Dr. Sebald, a German scholar, will be throwing light on this intriguing subject.