An assembly hall in a Naba’s, or chief’s compound among the Dagomba of northern Ghana is known as a “Zoŋ”, or “Zong”, where most official functions take place.

An assembly hall in a Naba’s, or chief’s compound among the Dagomba of northern Ghana is known as a “Zoŋ”, or “Zong”, where most official functions take place.

“Inside, the chief sits on a platform facing the entrance. In front of him are his household elders: the Wulana, the Kpanalana, and others. Subchiefs sit on the floor on the chief’s left, except for the Kambon’Na. To the chief’s right, another doorway opens into the compound, from which a young woman, the komlana (lit. “owner of water”), may be summoned to offer a calabash of water to visitors. Visitors present kola—both kola nut and cash “on top”—to the Wulana and explain their business; the chief distributes kola nut to them and to his elders.” 

- Chiefs, Priests, and Praise-Singers History, Politics, and Land Ownership in Northern Ghana

Horses are also stabled inside the Zoŋ, “because the horse likes to know what is going on.”

Depicted is an engraving by Edward Riou, from “Du Niger au golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi (1887 -1889)”, written by Louis-Gusstave Binger, depicting the interior of a Zoŋ during a visit to the Naba of Karaga. The two photographs by Rudolph Fish, 1910, depict the Zoŋ in the chief’s compound of Savelugu, and a general view of a Dagomba chief’s compound at Kombungu.