What is the history of the name “Legon” and what is the significance of its meaning to the University of Ghana?

According to Isaac Ato Mensah, Legon is a Ga village that belongs to the people of La, Accra. The indigenes of La called the environs between Okponglo and Achimota Lɛɛgon, meaning antelope hill, because of the presence of Lɛɛ, a small kind of antelope that roamed the hills with its litter ahead of it.

The University of Ghana registry, Great Hall, and Vice Chancellor’s residence are located on top of the hill called Lɛɛgon. Mensah notes that the twisting of the tongue from “Lɛɛ” to “Le” might have occurred because back in the day, the Ga character “ɛ” was not common, and “e” with an accent was used for convenience.

Such convenience might have been the reason for writing the double “ɛ” or one “ɛ” in Lɛgɔŋ, which has now been corrupted to Legon. Mensah argues that there is a widespread and persistent misunderstanding of the university’s name, as it has nothing to do with knowledge, but rather with a small antelope species that used to roam the area.

However, there is a recent reference to “hill of knowledge” in an article published in March 2020 by Alhaji Abubakar Siddick Ahmed, station manager of Radio Univers, together with Felix Odartey-Wellington and Amin Alhassan in tandfonline.com titled “Radio Univers: The Story of Ghana’s Pioneer Campus-Community Radio Station.”

The University of Ghana anthem also contains references to “hill of knowledge” and “great tower of learning,” but Mensah believes this is inaccurate and shows an implicit misunderstanding of the indigenous language.