The Moba people, or Bimoba, are a
Gur-speaking ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
from north-eastern
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
and north-western
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
.
Population centres in Ghana include Bimbagu and Bunkpurugu. The Bimoba number approximately 250,000 people in north-eastern Ghana
and about 320,000 people in northern Togo.
Origin
The Bimoba are believed to have migrated southwards from the
Present-day Burkina-Faso following the collapse of the
Kingdom of Fada-Gurma around 1420.
Society
Bimoba society is
patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
and is structured around clan and family heads. There are Clan-based kings or chiefs with vested power to hold the various clans together. The clans themselves can be located on multiple locations based on power and numbers. Presently, the clan groups of the Bimoba include Luok, Gnadaung, Dikperu, Puri, Tanmung, Gbong, Labsiak, Kunduek, Buok, the Baakpang, Turinwe and Kanyakib.
Religion
The Bimoba practice predominantly ethnic religions. They identify with personal deities collectively referred to as ''Yennu'', which translates as "god" or "sun". Their ancestors play a role by being the contact between themselves and ''Yannu''. A typical Bimoba compound would have a clay construction altar (''patir''; plural: ''pataa'') in an enclosed hut (''nakouk'') where sacrifices are made to invoke the presence of the ancestors. Women are allowed into the nakuuk. Aside the patir located in the compound, every family member is allowed to construct their own small altar known as a ''mier''. Communities may have a common shrine known as ''tingban''. The ''tingban'' is visited at times of problems that concern the entire community such as a drought or a disease outbreak.
Notable people
*
Solomon Namliit Boar
References
{{authority control
Ethnic groups in Ghana
Dagbon