Transportation and Post Telecommunication

The major road in Bosomtwe District is the road that links Kuntanase to Asokwa and  Ejisu Municipalities.  There are a number of feeder roads, which also link the towns and villages to Kuntanase.  The Kumasi-Kuntanase road is the only first class road in the district. The extent of road development in the district is not satisfactory in terms of average road length, quality and distribution.  Other roads in the district are from Kuntanase to Abono, Kuntanase-Bekwai.  

Although most of the feeder roads are motorable in the dry season, they deteriorate and become unmotorable during the rainy season. Transport services in the district remain costly and poorly integrated. The main means of transport and other transactions in the district is the road network. The total length of roads in the district is estimated at 415 km. About 74 percent of this length of road network is classified as feeder roads. There are only three (3) trunk roads in the district. They are the Asokwa – Kuntanase- road, Kuntanase - Bekwai road and the Kuntanase- Ejisu road.

The major vehicles found in the district are Lorries, motor-bicycle, tri-cycles popularly known as “aboboyaa” and bicycles. Few Lorries use the village road because of their poor condition.  Most of the vehicles that use the village roads are old and often hardly roadworthy. Some of the problems found in this sector were;

The on-street parking due to the absence of parking spaces along the roads

Poor road condition and network

Absence of road signs – this makes driving difficult in the district which consequently leads to accidents on the roads.

The development of pot-holes gullies etc on the roads. This makes driving uncomfortable for both drivers and passengers; this problem has   rendered most of the vehicles which ply on the road old and weak.

The road network is dominated by a low capacity mode of transport- cars, taxis and trotro

The public transportation service are inefficient

Long and uncertain length of travel time characterizes travellers’ journeys

Public transport terminals lack necessary facilities ( sheds, toilets, or benches)

Gender, Literacy and Education

Of the population 11 years and above, 83.6 percent are literate and 15.4 percent are non-literate. The proportion of literate males is higher (91.5 %) than that of females (74.4%). The majority (66.3%) indicated that they could read and write both English and Ghanaian languages. There are more males (75.1 %) who are literate in English and a Ghanaian language than females (66.3%). However, there are more females (l5.1%) who are literate in English only than males (12.6%)

Out of the total population of 38,042 computed, proportions of males and females who have attended school in the past before the Census in 2010 were 49.3 percent and 50.7 percent respectively. Proportion of females (18.2%) who have attained primary education is relatively higher than the males (8.4%). Similarly, proportion of females (39.1%) with JSS/JHS education as shown in the table is higher than the males (33.1%). However, the proportion of females dwindles after SSS/SHS to the level of tertiary education where the male (5.9%) proportion is higher than that of the females (2.5%).

In the district, lack of qualifications and narrow range of skills limits female access to formal employment. In rural areas, lack of female education is likely to limit farm productivity.

The gender gap in education is unlikely to be adequately tackled by a concentration on education provision in isolation. Factors such as female child labour, domestic and childcare responsibilities and contraceptive provision to reduce adolescent pregnancy also need to be addressed
.

Gender and Health

Fertility rate in the district is high (3.5) and there is no clear evidence to suggest that they are in decline. High fertility rates are linked to demographic factors such as early age of first marriage and childbirth. However, economic, social and cultural factors clearly underlie these patterns, particularly women’s relative lack of education and economic opportunities. Unequal gender relations manifest themselves in decision making patterns relating to fertility, which tend to reflect male rather than female preferences.

Teenage pregnancy in the District is on the increased. In 2014(12.8%), 2015 (17.9%) and 2016 (19.0%) Education at schools and communities should be intensified .The District need support to institute adolescent health programme

As long as women lack bargaining and decision makes powers within sexual relationships, conventional family planning initiatives will have limited success. Greater involvement of men in family planning activities is required and other measures to encourage joint decision making in family planning practice.

Men form the majority of HIV/AIDS cases in the district at present, although the proportion is falling. In 2014 a total of 202 people were screened and tested positive, Out of this 79.7 percent were males and 20.3 percent females. In 2015 the number of cases dropped to 198 of which 76.3 percent were males and 23.7 percent were females.  

Gender and the District Economy

Women’s labour participation rates are generally high throughout Ghana and the Bosomtwe District is not an exception. The most striking feature, however, is that more women ( 70.1%) are self-employed or work as unpaid labour in agriculture, agro-based enterprises and commerce or small scale manufacturing in the informal sector, in activities with low productivity which on average yield low incomes.

The division of labour in Bosomtwe District is highly sex-segregated in both the traditional and modern wage sectors. Only a very small number of women have broken through into modern sector occupations and even fewer into managerial positions. According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census the proportion of economically active males (94.2%) are relatively higher than economically active females (91.1%). In the Bosomtwe District, skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers remain the dominant occupation for both males (32.2%) and females (38.8%). Again, a much higher proportion of females (35.4%) than males (10.7%) are engaged as service and sales workers. With regards to craft and related trade workers, males (25.5%) have a higher proportion than females (10.2%).

 
Information on employment by sectors of persons 15 years and older shows that the private informal sector is the largest employer in the District, accounting for 86.2 percent of the economically active persons. The private formal sector is the second largest employer, accounting for 7.7 percent, while the public sector employs 5.3 percent of the population 15 years and above in the District. In the district higher proportions of males than females in all the other sectors except the private informal sector where females employed (91.6%) is significantly higher than males (80.3%).

Women predominate in the trading sector, mainly in petty trading, although a small minority of women has gained substantial market power. Most women in commerce are involved in informal, low productivity petty trading and hawking. These activities are strongly concentrated in highly perishable, low profit goods including agricultural produce and traditionally processed goods. Women’s trading activities are hindered by poor infrastructure, bad road conditions, weak marketing channels, limited storage facilities, and lack of other facilities at market places such as water and toilets.

Violence against Women

Violence against women is a subject which has received relatively little public attention in the district and, reflecting this, about which there is little information. However, violence against women is widespread, at institutional, community and domestic levels, taking a variety of forms.

Political participation and representation

Bosomtwe women like any Ghanaian woman are effectively under the control or authority of men (initially their father or other male members of their kin group and later their husband) for much of their lives, although they may gain in status and influence with age. As a result, women’s decision making role is constrained in both private and public spheres, markedly so with people of the northern extraction. However, where women do exercise political power, in the traditional framework, it is largely in parallel structures or by influencing male authorities

On the political scene, women in the district are not left out, though they are in the minority. Out of the total of fifty (50) Assembly members in the district, only 4 (8 percent) are women, while forty-six (82 percent) are men. Of the 4 Assembly women 2 are elected and 2 appointees. Since the creation of the district only one woman has ever been appointed as a District Chief Executive but no woman has ever been elected as a Presiding Member. There is one woman who is a chairperson of one of the three Area Councils. None of the 35 Unit Committee chairpersons is a woman. The political scene is a male dominated area and therefore limits women who are in the majority in decision making. Again, of the five statutory sub-committees of the assembly none has its chairperson to be a woman

More men are in higher positions in the district than the females. However, the impact of women activities in the district in areas of farming, commerce, trading and others is tremendous and commendable.

Identified Key Gender Issues in the District

High illiteracy rate among the youth, particularly those in the rural areas.

Lack of employable skills

Women are highly under-represented in formal sector

Relative to men, women generally have limited access to formal credit

Continuing gender imbalance in access to education

High birth rate

Child neglect

Teenage pregnancy

Single parenthood among women in the district.

Low participation of women in decision making

Gender based violence-domestic violence against women

Key Interventions in Gender Issues

Female economic groups in the district should be assisted to access credit to develop their businesses

There is a need to promote female enrolment in non-traditional vocational/technical education at post primary level in order to broaden their economic opportunities.

Factors such as female child labour, domestic and childcare responsibilities and contraceptive provision to reduce adolescent pregnancy also need to be addressed.

More female participation in the District Assembly concept must be encouraged.

The girl-child education sponsorship programme in the district must be continued to encourage more girls to attend and complete tertiary institutions.

The youth should be empowered through education and training in employable skills through the collaboration between the Assembly, traditional authorities, parents/ guardians and development partners.

Intensive Public Sensitization on gender based violence

Ensure gender parity index

Address teenage pregnancies

Promote family planning and sex education

Economic empowerment of women

Mentoring of the girl child

Child panel should be established, well equipped and supported to protect and promote   the welfare of children in the district.

Child Protection

Child Protection is the term used to describe:

The philosophies, policies, strategies, standards, guidelines and procedures   to protect children from all forms of intentional and un-intentional harm;

The act of safeguarding the right of all children to a life free from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.

The prevention and responsiveness to violence, exploitation and abuse against children – including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.

It also includes issues on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) which covers defilement, rape, child marriage and other forms of violence which are driven by gender power dynamics and inequity

It seeks to guarantee the right of ALL GIRLS AND BOYS to a life free from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect

Situation of Children in the District

Teenage pregnancy was 587 in 2015 but decreased significantly to 358 to 2016. This represents percentage coverage of 7.3% on the total ANC registrants

For the female population of 12 years and older, the never married is the majority for age cohorts 12-14 up to 20-24. Majority from age cohorts 25-29 up to 65 and above are married. This implies that females marry at an early age than males

Key Development Issues in Child Protection

Child neglect

Child abuse

Single parenting

Streetism

Child labour

Drug abuse

Truancy

Rape

Defilement

Limited child registration

Unwanted pregnancy

Illegal abortion

Gambling

Children in conflict with the law

List of suggested activities to be undertaken  

1. Organize meeting with stakeholders to plan Gender based violence campaign

2. Intensive Public Sensitization on gender based violence

3. Encouraging the general public to report cases

4. Counselling of affected victims

5. Empowerment of children at least

6. Conduct social enquiry into reported cases

7. Hold meetings with stakeholders involved in reported cases

8. Follow up on reported cases and bring to a close

9. Identify communities with high incidence of gender based violence and child abuse

10. Intensify public education on topical child protection issues (trafficking, child labour, teenage pregnancy, birth registration, child marriage, drug abuse, harmful traditional practices)

11. Work with community groups to create a safe environment for children

12. Create public awareness on the rights of the child

13. Involve stakeholders including CSOs in monitoring Assembly’s policies and programmes on child protection

Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

The world is now linked together with Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Mobile phones, the internet and computers have become important tools for communication with enormous time saving applications in the pursuit of inter-personal and corporate transactions. The days of telegrams and gong-gong to carry information are gone due to technology

Households access to computers and Internet

The distribution of the internet facility usage by sex indicates that males (64%) have a larger proportion than females (36%).Another small proportion of households (4.4%) have desktop or laptop computers. In terms of ownership of desktops or laptop computers in Bosomtwe District, male headed households have about three quarters (74.7%) while female headed households have slightly one quarter (25.3%). Out of the total population of 93,910 aged 12years and over in the Bosomtwe District, 62,792 (51.4%) have mobile phones.  Of the population 12 years and older, only 3.9 percent use internet facility. Only 4.4 percent of the households own desktop and laptop computers.

Computer usage when coupled with computer literacy, grants the user the ability to utilize computer programmes eg. Word processing, calculations, and data management analysis. In addition, computer access provides opportunities to access the internet for various activities and services, including social networking, governance, education, health, commerce and other online services. In the District there are ICT centres owned by private individuals which prove secretariat services to the populace.

The District Assembly has an ICT Centre at Kuntanase which is not functional. The ICT Centre is supposed to provide internet access and basic training in computer literacy to the public. ICT infrastructure in education is not encouraging. Most of the basic schools do not have access to ICT infrastructure, even though ICT is examinable at the BECE.

Penetration of Fixed and Mobile Telephones

 As in many districts in Ghana fixed lined telephones are limited. Data indicates that out of the total population of 62,795 aged 12 years and older in the District, more than half of this population representing 51.4 percent has mobile phones. The proportion of mobile phone ownership by the male (58.4%) population 12 years and older is higher than the female (45.5%) population.

All the 66 communities in the district in one way or the other can access one or all the following mobile networks:

MTN

Vodafone

Tigo

Airtel

Glo-Ghana

Radio and Television

There is no FM station in the district. It however has about 30 Information Centres which transmit information from affiliate FM Stations. Even though the district does not have its own FM station, most of FM , stations in Kumasi, Ejisu Konongo, Bekwai, Obuasi Koforidua and Nkawkaw are received in the district

Importance of ICT in the District Development

The important role that ICT play cannot be over-emphasized. The importance of ICT in the development includes the following:

Information gathering for development; information of government policies and programmes, development issues in the district/communities

Networking and Information sharing-information and experience sharing on agriculture, marketing of produce, health, education and climate change and environmental pollution.

Use of the mobiles have enable Assembly members to create a platform for information sharing. There is also the Ghana Social Accountability Mechanism (GSAM) Platform where information on GSAM activities are shared

Distance learning services for rural dwellers

Attraction of micro/small enterprises-SMEs take advantage of FM stations to advertise their products and services to many communities within and beyond their areas of operation

Enhanced decentralization- Through the proliferation of FM station-community members are able to bring their views and problems to the attention of the District Assembly for response

Improved communications- with availability of mobile phones people get in attach with their relatives in the cities and abroad

Source of attainment

Key development issues in ICT

The key development issues in ICT use in the district include:

High cost of ICTs supply

Limited use of ICT- computer and accessories in schools

Inadequate ICT infrastructure

Low literacy levels and lack of ICT personnel

Poor internet access

In order to improve the utilization of ICT in the district, the District Assembly will collaborate with its development partners to undertake these interventions:

Encourage, promote and support the implementation of ICT system in the district

Improve the supply of ICT in schools

Sensitization of the importance of ICTs in development

Information Centres in the District

There is no FM station in the district. It however has about 30 Information Centres which transmit information from affiliate FM Stations. Even though the district does not have its own FM station, most of FM , stations in Kumasi, Ejisu Konongo, Bekwai, Obuasi Koforidua and Nkawkaw are received in the district. Information Centres in the district are shown in Figure 1.13

Energy

The main sources of energy in the district are biomass in the form firewood and charcoal, petroleum products and electricity.

Electricity

In the Bosomtwe district all the 66 communities are connected to the national electricity grid. However, there new developed areas which need extension of electricity.. On the whole the use of electricity for domestic and industrial activities is encouraging.

Petroleum Products

There are 6 petrol filling stations and 2 surface tanks in the district. There are also 5 gas filling stations in the district

Biomass

Firewood and charcoal are the major sources of energy for cooking in the communities. About 78.6 percent of the household use biomass to meet their cooking energy requirements.. It is generally the woman’s job to collect fuel wood for cooking. It often takes several hours to walk to and from supply sources which add considerably to women’s workload. Women in the district have little alternative forms of energy such as gas in the local market and even where they are available, insufficient household funds prevent them from purchasing

The consumption of fuel wood contributes to deforestation with accompanying ecological damage and increased prices, gathering times thereby imposing heavy burdens on women.

Main source of lighting

Figure 1.22 indicates that majority of households (69.4 percent) in the Bosomtwe District use electricity (mains) as their main source of lighting, followed by 19.6 percent that use flashlight or torch, while 8.1 percent use kerosene lamp. In Ashanti Region, households that use electricity (mains) as the most common source of lightning is 73.6 percent with the least source of lightning being crop residue with 0.1 percent of households.

Table 1.33 reveals the main source of lightning of dwelling units by type of locality in Bosomtwe District. In the urban (72.3%) and rural (68.0%) localities, most households use electricity as their main source of lighting. This is followed by the use of flashlight/torch constituting 18.5 percent in the urban areas and 20.1 percent in the rural areas. The use of Kerosene lamp as a source of lightning is 5.6 percent in urban localities and 9.2 percent in the rural areas.

Table 1.34 shows the sources of cooking fuel and cooking space used by households. On cooking fuel, the table indicates that 43.3% percent of households in the District use wood as the major source of cooking fuel, followed by charcoal (34.7%) and gas (13.8%). The distribution by type of locality reveals that households in the rural areas (56.9%) use wood as their main cooking fuel with those in the urban centers (52.9%) using charcoal as their main cooking fuel. One quarter of households (25.4%) use separate rooms exclusively for cooking in the District and they are in the majority. In urban settings, most households use the veranda (37.6%) as their cooking space, while in the rural areas, 27.1 percent use separate rooms exclusively for cooking.

1.31.1 Key development issues in the energy sector

The key development issues in the energy sector include:

Not all areas have access to electricity

Inadequate supply of transformers

Poor street lighting  system

High cost of electricity

High cost of petroleum products

High dependence of fuel wood-leading to deforestation

The interventions that are proposed to improve the energy sector to enhance development will include the following:

Extension of electricity to newly develop areas

Facilitate the provision of additional transformers

Provision of more street lights and maintenance of street lights

Encourage the use of LPG gas to reduce the dependence on fuel wood/charcoal

Undertake afforestation programme in the district