The adobe fortress homes of the Wala people of Wa, Ghana

  
   
   
 
 

 

This is Naa’s Palace in Wa, Ghana. Because of continued invasions and raids from other groups the people of the region, the Wala, developed their characteristic fortress-type houses. The Wala are primarily farmers. They raise cereals such as sorghum, millet, and maize. Most families also raise cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. On the farms men do most of the work in the fields but women help with the planting and harvesting. Women cultivate their own vegetable gardens, collect forest products, gather firewood and fetch water.

   
       

Both men and women build the houses. The building is built in the traditional style from sun dried mud-brick (adobe) walls and Y-shaped wooden columns supporting flat roofs made of a bush pole framework covered with mud. Very few historic earthen buildings of this style remain in the region because of the scarcity of the skilled artisans needed for annual maintenance. Buildings are often renewed with modern techniques that do not weather as well as traditional mud brick. Naa’s Palace was restored with help from the World Monuments Fund