The Kwahu Afram Plains South District was carved out from the Kwahu North District and forms part of the newly created districts in the country which were inaugurated on 19th June, 2012. The Legislative Instrument (LI) that established the District is 2045 and was passed in 2012.
The District is bounded to the north by the Kwahu Afram Plains North, to the south by Kwahu South, to the east by the Volta River and to the west by two districts in the Ashanti region precisely Sekyere East and Ashanti-Akim Districts.
The District is located between Latitudes 6o 40I N and 70 10’1 N; longitudes 0O 40I E and 0o 10I E; at the North-Western corner of Eastern Region with a total land area of approximately 3,095 sq km.
There are two main entrances into the District by road; namely Nkawkaw-Mpraeso-Bepong-Kwahu Tafo and Adawso from where the three-kilometer-wide Afram River is crossed to Ekye-Amanfrom by ferry operated by the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC). The second entrance is through Agogo in the Sekyere Afram Plains in the Ashanti region where one can travel by road through Dome to Maame Krobo then to Tease, the District capital. The Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) provides ferry services on the Lake and currently operates one ferry in the Kwahu Afram Plains South between Adawso and Ekye-Amanfrom to the District. It has a capacity of 360 tones. When using a single engine, it takes about 30 minutes to cross.
The district falls within the savannah vegetation zone comprising the savannah transitional zone and savannah woodland which is characterized by short deciduous fire resistant trees often widely spaced and a ground flora composed of grass of varying heights which is associated by two main rainfall seasons occurring in June and October; the first rainy season starts from May to June and the second from September to October. The mean annual rainfall is between1150mm and1650mm. The dry seasons are distinct starting between November and late February. Temperatures are found to be hot ranging between February and March (36.80C and 36.60C on the average respectively), while the coldest ones are December and January (19.90C and 20.10C on the average respectively). Relative humidity is generally high throughout the year, ranging between 68.2% to 71.6% in the dry season and 81.6% and 71.6%.in the wet season.
The land is generally undulating and rises about 60 metres to 120 metres above sea level. The only high ground is in Bonkurom. The District is drained to the south by the Afram River and the Volta River to the east which flow continually throughout the year and can be used for both domestic and agricultural purposes. Several other seasonal streams are found in the District. The pattern is largely dendritic flowing in the north-south direction.
The major soils in the district are the Swedru-Nsaba-Offin Compound. Dominating this soil group is the Swedru series which are mainly red silty, well drained, deep gravel-free silty loams and silty-clay loams. The Nsaba series are yellowish red silty clay loam, moderately well drained, very shallow and rocky. There are few forest reserves covering about 120.8sq km. The forest reserves constitute about 15% of the entire surface area of the district.
The District has a total population of 115,812, consisting of 62,450 males (53.9%) and females 53,362 (46.1%), (PHC, 2010). The district is typically a settler district with majority being migrants.The population of the District is predominantly youthful consisting of large numbers of children (42.2%) and a conical top of a small number of elderly persons (3.3%) with more females than males. Ewes constitute the highest, followed by the Ashantis, the Kwahus, as well as tribes from the Northern extraction of the Country. However, the widely spoken language in the district is Twi. About 24.6% of the population in the District live in urban areas whilst 75.4% live in rural areas. Most of the people in the district are Christians. There are also Muslims and traditionalists in the district.
The Kwahu traditional council is the highest traditional authority in the district. The council is headed by the Omanhene. However, several divisional chiefs operate within various traditional areas in the district. These chiefs adjudicate cases within areas under their jurisdiction.
The district is headed by a District Chief Executive being the representative of the President with Tease as the Administrative capital. Under the Local Government System, the district operates a three tier political administrative structure, with the General Assembly being the highest decision making body followed by the area councils down to the unit committees. The composition of the General Assembly is made up of thirty-eight (38) Assembly Members with twenty-seven (27) elected and eleven appointees. There are eleven (11) decentralized departments who report to the Co-ordinating Director at the central directorate of the District
VISION
To be highly inclusive local governance organization in the provision of economic and broad-based social development
MISSION
Kwahu Afram Plains South District Assembly exits to provide basic services, infrastructure and support local economic and agriculture development through citizen’s participation, effective and efficient mobilization and use of resource to promote higher living standards of the people in the District
CORE VALUES
The Assembly ensure for integrity-through: Participation, Professionalism, Client focus, Transparency, Effective and efficient use of resources; and Accountability
The function of the Assembly as stipulated in Section 12 sub section 1 to 5 of the Local Governance Act, 2016(Act 936) as follows:
- Exercise political and administrative authority in the district;
- Promote local economic development, provide guidance, give direction to and supervise other administrative authorities in the district as may be prescribed by law;
- Be responsible for the overall development of the district;
- Formulate and execute plans, programmes and strategies for the effective mobilization of the resources necessary for the overall development of the district;
- Promote and support productive activity and social development in the district and remove any obstacles to initiative and development;
- Sponsor the education of student from the district to fill particular manpower needs of the district especially in the social sectors of education and health, making sure that the sponsorship is fairly and equitably balanced between male and female;
- Initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure and provide district works and services in the district;
- Be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlement and the environment in the district.
- In co-operation with the appropriate national and local security agencies, be responsible for the maintenance of security and public safety in the district;
- Ensure ready access to courts in the district for the promotion of justice;
- Act to preserve and promote the cultural heritage within the district;
- Initiate, sponsor or carry out studies that may be necessary for the discharge of any of the duties conferred by this act or any other enactment, and perform any other function that may be provided under any enactment;
- Execute approved developmental plan for the district
- Guide, encourage and support sub-district local strictures, public agencies and local communities to perform their functions in the execution of approved development plans;
- Initiate and encourage joint participation with other persons or bodies to execute approved development plan;
- Promote or encourage other persons or bodies to undertake projects under approved development plan;
- Monitor the execution of projects under approved development plan and assess and evaluate their impact on the development of the district and national economy in the accordance with government policy;
- Co-ordinate, integrate and harmonise the execution of programmes and project under the approved development plan for the district and other development programmes promoted or carried out by Ministries, Departments, public co-operations and other statutory bodies and non-governmental organizations in the district.
There are a lot of challenges facing the District, notably among them are in the field of education, health, infrastructure, roads, telecommunication, and electricity among others. All these serve as a potential for investment.
“To achieve accelerated socio-economic growth, sustainable, societal and rapid poverty reduction within decentralization”
Development Focus:Industrialization supported by local economic development, infrastructure, agriculture development in a sustainable environmental management
