Background

Bawku West District is one of the thirteen (13) districts and municipalities in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The district is located in the north-eastern section of the region, with Zebilla as its administrative capital. It is bordered to the north by the Republic of Burkina Faso, to the east by Binduri district, to the west by Talensi district and Nabdam district and to the south by East Mamprusi district. Significantly, two tributaries of the Volta River namely the White Volta and the Red Volta run contiguous to the district’s eastern and western boundaries respectively.

The district was created in 1988 under the local government system by Legislative Instrument (LI) 1442. The district covers an area of approximately 1,070 square kilometres, which constitutes about 12% of the total land area of the Upper East Region. It is the fourth biggest district in the region in terms of land area.