Background 

Wa Municipality is one of the eleven District/Municipalities that make up the Upper West Region (UWR) of Ghana (however, at the 2010 Population and Housing Census period, there were nine District/Municipalities in the region).

Wa District was upgraded to now Wa Municipality in 2004 with Legislative Instrument (LI) 1800 in pursuant of the policy of decentralization which started in 1988. Under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1993 (Act 426), the Assembly exercises deliberative, legislative and executive functions in the Municipality.

The Wa Municipality shares administrative boundaries with Nadowli District to the north, Wa East District to the east and to the west and the south Wa- West District. It lies within latitudes 1º40’N to 2º45’N and longitudes 9º32’W to 10º20’W.

Wa Municipality has its capital as Wa, which also serves as the Regional capital of Upper West Region. It has a land area of approximately 579.86 square kilometers, which is about 6.4% of the Region.

The Assembly is empowered as the highest political and administrative body charged with the responsibility of facilitating the implementation of national policies. Figure 1.1 presents a map depicting the Wa Municipality boundaries and selected major towns.