According to Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Nanumba is a dialect of the Dagbani language which is spoken by the Dagbamba or Dagomba people of northern Ghana (1992, 266). The language of the Dagbamba is called Dagbani and belongs to the Gur language family (ibid., 264). According to the Area Handbook for Ghana, the Nanumba people belong to the Mole-Dagbani, a sub-group of the Gur (1971, 90). The Mole-Dagbani people comprise 16 per cent of Ghana's population and reside mainly in the north (West Africa: A Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit 1995, 368).

However, in a 10 December 1996 telephone interview, a professor of history at James Madison University in Virgina stated that the Nanumba people belong to the Grusi sub-group of the Gur, also in the Northern Region (ibid.). The source also explained that the Nanumba do not generally speak Twi (ibid.). According to the Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twi is spoken by the Asante and the Akuapem peoples in south- central and southeast Ghana (1992, 263). Furthermore, Twi is an official language used in universities and in literary materials (ibid.)

Specific information on the language spoken in the Bimbila area could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. Please consult the attachments for further information.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th ed. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va. 10 December 1996. Telephone interview with professor of history.

Kaplan, Irving et al. 1971. 2nd ed. Area Handbook for Ghana. Washington, DC.: Library of Congress.

West Africa: A Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit. 1995. Alex Newton and David Else. Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th ed. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, pp. 263, 264, 266.

Kaplan, Irving et al. 1971. 2nd ed. Area Handbook for Ghana. Washington, DC.: Library of Congress, pp. 90, 92, 101.