The Ando Eʋe: Ancestry, Migration, Memory and Territorial Identity Across Ghana and Togo

This paper introduces the Ando Eʋe as a distinct historical and cultural subject within the wider Eʋe world of Ghana and Togo. Drawing on the recorded work of Mr. Shine Zidah, Ando oral traditions, linguistic interpretation, ancestral memory and existing historical accounts, the paper examines the meaning of the name Ando, the clan's traditional association with the Notsie exodus, the Aʋazɔliza tradition of shared migration among related Eʋe clans, and the geographical continuity of the Ando homeland across the present Ghana–Togo border. Particular attention is given to the seventeenth-century movement of Adangbe populations into the Agɔtime area following Akwamu expansion and warfare around Ladoku. The paper places this movement alongside Ando traditions concerning an already-established Ando territory and raises questions about the settlement sequence, place names, cultural landscapes and subsequent political transformation of the region. It argues for the systematic recovery and preservation of Ando historical knowledge through oral history, linguistics, archaeology, geography, genealogy, archival research and community-based documentation. The paper is intended as an introductory foundation for a larger Ando historical research programme involving fieldwork across communities in Ghana and Togo.