According to historian, Professor Irene Odotei, these names originated from the people who first settled in those areas, their histories and the quest to survive.
According to her, Osu, for instance, was originally inhabited by people who moved from Osudoku to the coast.
“Osu is part of Osudoku and they moved and came to the coast and settled at a place and called the place Osu. So, that’s how, and then when the Europeans came, they built their fort and castles there – Osu Castle, and when they built, more people joined them and it became a big town,” she disclosed during a recent interview on Joy News.
Prof Odotei further explained that the name Achimota is linked to the era of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
“During the slave trade, people who managed to escape captivity fled into the Achimota Forest to avoid being recaptured, they refrained from calling each other by their real names, hence the phrase, “atsiii m) ta,” which means ‘you don’t call people by their real names,'” she stated.
With respect to Legon, she disclosed that Legon was a hill where an animal called “Le” from the antelope family could be found.
This hill served as a hunting ground for people who wanted this animal for various purposes, and over time, the name was corrupted to Legon.
“My grandfather decided to give me the history of Legon. He said it was a hill where there were a lot of animals called ‘Le.’ It was like a hunting ground for those animals,” she explained.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
