Border crossing, strategies of resistance and the colonial violence: narratives from Northern Ghana and Togo (1920s-1930s)

The northern section of the contemporary border between Ghana and Togo is set in correspondence of the Oti River, which flows through the territory historically inhabited by the Konkomba, who found themselves divided in two halves after the colonial partition between France and Great Britain. This contribution aims at shedding light on the narratives, perceptions, and usage of the colonial border by the Konkomba, a group considered by colonial powers as a minority, devoid of agency and political organisation due to their lack of centralised authorities. British and French colonial control strategies, but also their rhetoric and language, shall be analysed with the aim to discovering how Konkomba identity, political instances and relation with the territory had been shaped and changed during time. Colonial documents and recent ethnographic research in the area build up the core material under which issues of colonial representation, violence, and local resistance are considered.