CULTURE OF ASSIN SOUTH DISTRICT

TRADITIONAL SET UP

The Assin South District consists of two traditional paramount areas, Assin Apemanim Traditional Area and Assin Atendasu Traditional Area. This therefore means that there are two (2) paramounts. Apemanim has her paramountcy at Assin Manso and Assin Atandensu has her paramountcy at Nyankomase-Ahenkro.

ETHNIC DIVERSITY

The District is predominantly inhabited by the Assins and other ethnic groups such as Fantis, Ewes, Dagabas, Nzimas, Akuapims, Gas, and Larte. Assin Manso a place where their Ancestors first settled is considered as the traditional home of the Assins. The major staple foods are Ampesi,Fufu and banku.

COMMUNAL SPIRIT

The communal spirit among the people is low especially among the Assins. The spirit among other tribes is high especially among the Gas and Ewes in settler communities such as Assin Adadientem and Assin Mankata respectively. Normally if there is a communal labour the chief will beat the gongon for the people to gather at the place of work. Any absentee will pay a fine.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Traditional knowledge has been widely acclaimed and still very relevant in contemporary times. The traditional people know how to preserve the lands and water bodies. This is not being exaggerated but facts indicate that the traditional people have beret grooves and water bodies that they worship. The idea is to protect and preserve the land and water bodies. There are some communities who don’t go to farm on Tuesdays and Mondays. This is because of resting and using of the days for communal labour

RELIGIOUS COMPOSITON

The residents of Assin South District are basically religious with 80.0% being Christians, 7.6% being Muslims 0.6% being traditionalist, 0.7% are of other religions and 6.1% with no specific religious affiliations, others are 5.6% as indicated by the 2010 PHC.

Fig 6: religious composition

NEGATIVE CULTURAL PRACTICE

A major cultural issue is the unhygienic use of water from various unsanitary sources for drinking and other consumption purposes such as cooking. There’s usually the tendency for one to hear indigenes saying ‘‘this is the water my forefathers used’’. A survey conducted by Health Management Consultancy (HMC) in the former Assin District indicates that about 65% of drinking water came from traditional sources of water especially rivers and streams because that is what generations have used up to date.

They also believe that the traditional sources serve as herbal medicine and also they are heavy so when one takes it quenches his or her hunger. These issues have prevented many people in participating in the improved type of W&S facilities especially when it comes to contribution. The reason, they do not pay anything for the traditional source that are even heavier and serve as herbal medicines.

Another major problem come out through this survey is that it is a taboo for a woman in her menstrual period to cross a river. The implication is that when borehole or KVIP is sited across river patronage in such communities would below.

TOURISM SERVICES AND POTENTIALS

There are several tourism attractions spread over the 2 paramountcies of the District. Below are the towns and villages with tourism potentials.

Table 17: List of Tourist Sites In The District

Source: DPCU, ASDA 2016

The industry has the potential of:

v Generating employment and improving households’ incomes and local government revenue.
v It also enhances other economic activities such as craft, food production, commerce and cultural activities as indicated in Table above.

The sector is however confronted with a lot of setbacks notably:

1. Underdeveloped hospitality industry
2. Inadequate logistics and funds
3. Inadequate infrastructure
4. Administrative bottleneck
5. Inadequate publicity

For tourism to be fully harnessed there is the need to develop the tourism infrastructure, especially the hospitality industry and collaboration with the major stakeholders should be enhanced. There are plans to construct a cultural village at Manso, Kruwa and Mesomagor. The Tree Platform at Mesomagor site is also being expanded.

There is also the need to improve on the management of the existing tourist receptive centre at Assin Manso.