The Gwollu Defence Wall is a historic wall in the

Upper West Region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest set ...

of Ghana. The wall is located near the Burkina Faso-Mali border. It was built as a defense against

slave traders The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of en ...

History

The Gwollu Defence Wall was built in the 19th century by Gwollu Koro Limann. The wall is one of many relics of the slave trade. The region was marked by violent raids led by

warlords A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

Babatu and Samori. To prevent these attacks, two walls were built. One was to protect homes in the community, while the other encircled farms and bodies of water. It is believed that construction took about 10–25 years each, but neither was completed. The walls were abandoned when the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

was abolished, although local slave traders were still a problem. Only the portion that surrounds

Gwollu Gwollu is a small town and is the capital of Sissala West district, a district in the Upper West Region of north Ghana. Hilla Limann, a former Ghanaian president was born and raised here. The town contains several tourist attractions such as the ...

remains.

References

Monuments and memorials in Ghana Museums in Ghana Upper West Region {{Ghana-struct-stub

History

See also

References