Who are the Guan ethnic in Ghana?

- The term Guan is believed to be derived from “N-gban”, meaning “children of the same father”.

- The Guan people are mainly located in the Central, Eastern and the Greater Accra regions of Ghana.

- The Guan people have rich culture, traditions and customs which reflect in their social systems, food, architecture and arts.

- They believe in a Supreme God, Mawu and lesser gods and ancestors who act as intermediaries between Mawu and mankind.

- Their annual festival, Ngmayem is characterized by colourful costumes and traditional drumming and dancing to honour their ancestors.

- The Guan languages are part of the Ga-Dangme languages subgroup of the Niger Congo language family.

- The Guan peoples are the original settlers in the regions they currently inhabit.

- The Akans came into contact with the Guan peoples between the 12th and 16th centuries when the Akans were migrating down from the north.

- The Guans were a centralized state with a hierarchical system, similar to the Akans.

- Both peoples engaged in trade, farming, and craft specialization, and shared many cultural, religious, and social practices.

- Overtime the Guan began to assimilate with Akan immigrants and adopted many Akan cultural practices.

- The Guans played an important role in resisting European colonialism and were part of the resistance movements that eventually led to Ghana's independence.