Cultural and Social

Traditionally, the Upper West Akim District is under the paramouncy of the Akyem Abuakwa State and therefore has one of the Divisional chiefs of the Abuakwa state. The District celebrates one festival known as Ohum in June every year. The population of the District can best be described as heterogeneous as it has different tribes, and dominated by the Akyems, a sub-ethnic group of the Akan ethnic group. In terms of religion, it has almost all the major religions that practice their faith in Ghana, that is, Christianity, Islam and Traditional religions.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to the ethnic group that a person belonged to. This information is collected only from Ghanaians by birth and Ghanaians with dual nationality. The classification of ethnic groups in Ghana is that officially provided by the Bureau of Ghana Languages and which has been in use since the 1960 census.

Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. This industry is important for the benefits it brings and due to its role as a commercial activity that creates demand and growth for many more industries. The Upper West Akim District has many potential tourist attraction sites that need to be developed and promoted to attract both domestic and foreign tourists. Notable among these attraction are:

• Okurase Wood Carving Village: It is located at Okurase, where a number of identifiable carving groups engaged in carving of different artifacts such as Drums of different types and sizes, Traditional stools, Mortars & Pestle, Linguist staff with varied symbols, Wooden toys, Portraits among others.

• The Two-in-One Coconut Tree: This is a miraculous coconut tree with two branches on the trunk about 12 meters from the ground. It is located about 2km away from the Nyanoah Township. About 15-20 acres of land is available for development into modern botanical garden for recreation purposes.

• The Mysterious Palm Tree (The Snake-like shape Palm Tree): This attraction is an old palm tree estimated to be more than 90 years old, and it’s situated at Sukrong Cannan. The palm tree coils and creep like a giant snake in a valley.

• Kwaku Yirebi/Odeng Cave: It is a funnel shaped cave on a hill at Sukrong-Awenfi. It is situated on top of a hill, which is about three kilometres west of Kwaku Yirebi, a village near Sukrong-Awenfi; and is about 8m long, 1.5m wide and 2.5m high. The main characteristic of this cave is that it has two compartments and so resembles a two-roomed apartment in a building. The first one has a wide opening and can accommodate at least ten people, while the other one is narrower but longer and can accommodate between twenty and twenty-five people at a time.

• Island Forest: This is a forest surrounded by stream and it is located at Krodua.

These potential sites when developed would not only contributes towards more economic activities but also generate more employment, revenues and play a significant role in development. The DA would have to lead the process by promoting these sites and identifying investors interested in this industry.