The Friday, 2nd December, 2022 marked a historic day in the lives of the Chief’s and people of Sirigu in the Kasena Nankana West District and the Moshie community in Burkina Faso, that will remain with them forever as descendants of Atimilero traced their roots back to Zecco and Sirigu.
Mr. Atimilero, the great ancestor of the people of Sirigu who travelled from Gambaga and settled at Zecco, a community in Burkina Faso, gave birth to five boys and a lady. The five descendants then migrated and spread to other areas including Navrongo,and Sirigu.
The descendants of the only daughter of the great Atimilero, Anyelinga made up of 21 chiefs from Ouagadougou and its environs, made a historic visit to their ancestral home, Zecco and crossed over to Sirigu to pay home to the Sirigu chief and his people as relatives.
Explaining the relationship between the people of Sirigu and the Moshies in Burkina Faso, the paramount chief of the Sirigu Traditional area, Naba Roland Atogumdeya Akwara II, said the Moshies and the Sirigu people trace their origin to a common ancestor called Atimilero who settled at Zecco from Gambaga.
“They are our relatives because their great great mother was also our auntie. Because our fathers were four who were given birth to by Atimilero . The first boy is Adare , who gave birth to Tungo, Yelewongo and Yua, then the second boy is Akarigea who gave birth to the Guuro people who are presently settled at Zecco, our present ancestral home. The third boy is Azoko, that is our great grand father who moved to settle at the present day Sirigu where we are settled. The fourth boy is Adampoe who gave birth to the Navrongo people.”
“Then our sister was called Anyelinga, who moved to the then Upper Volta ,now Burkina Faso and lived in the bush. There he met a man and brought him back to Zecco. When her people enquired about where she met the man, she said they met in the Bush which translates “moe” in guruni. That is how the name moshie came about, the people from the Bush.
“So the people here today, are the descendants which is made up of 21 Chief’s who have traced their roots back to Zecco and Sirigu for us to work together. They came with their Chief’s and that is where the reconnection is beginning.”
Speaking on the relevance of the visit, Naba Atogumdeya said it affords the the two parties the opportunity to know each other and connect with with their ancestral home.
“They are paying homage to the Sirigu paramountcy because we are part of their ancestral home. The political boundary has divided us and so when they returned to Zecco to connect with their ancestral home, they decided to pay homage to the Sirigu paramountcy as our relatives.”
“The number of people who came out to receive their relatives speaks to the relevance of this visit by the Moshies. I think we are one, and our people trade with them but they previously did not know each other. So this visit will strengthen the unity and build peace between the moshes and the frafras.”
Balole Naba, Kanngo, explaining the decision to trace their origin said, their vist is to connect with their relatives here and to know each other.
” When we realised that we have relatives in Zecco and Sirigu, we decided to follow up after the visit of Zecco chief, to know our relatives and reconnect with them.” We tried coming here long ago but the Covid19 and the political disturbance in Burkina Faso delayed our coming.
Naba Balole added that ” the crowd that received them at the palace of Naba Akwara was a happy sight and it is an indication that the people have accepted them as relatives.
There was the display of great Ghanaian culture and Burkinabe culture to the delight of a great crowd that gathered to receive the visit of the Moshie community.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com