SUMMARY

The Moba are an ethnic group living mainly in North-Eastern Ghana and North-Western Togo, mainly in the Dapaon administrative district, approximately 600 km north of the capita, Lomé. Most Mobas live in rural areas, in small villages organised in accordance with patrilineal clan- and tribal- structures (known in Moba language as burrous), mainly engaging in various forms of agriculture, especially cultivation of peanuts and millet. Population estimates for the Moba vary from approximately 95,000 and 115,000. Most Moba clans have a highly complex land tenure system based on a set of religious beliefs, communal tribal ownership structures and historical rights of occupancy combined. Further, Moba lands are commonly interspersed with lands belonging to the Anufom (Tchokossi) people, living to the south. These land tenure rights were severely disturbed in the 1970s by various governmental land reforms. Due to these reforms, some tensions appeared within the Moba communities and between the Moba and the Anufoms (Tchokossis).

A history of the Moba people is difficult to trace, their oral traditions claiming they originate in the Fada-n-Gourma area of present-day Burkina Faso, from where they migrated in Togo and Ghana between the 15th and the 17th centuries AD.

While most Moba clans have never been involved in communal violence, a very small number have engaged in fighting against the Anufom (Tchokossi). Furthermore, in most cases, relations between the two groups are relatively peaceful, as the two groups typically respect their land rights, and grant each other access for religious or traditional purposes

The Moba have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.