Banda Ahenkro is a town located in the west-northern of

Bono region The Bono region is one of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana. It is as a result of the remainder of Brong-Ahafo region when Bono East region and Ahafo region were created. Sunyani, also known as the green city of Ghana, is the regional capit ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, near the border of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. Its geography provided a home for numerous groups seeking shelter from across

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

during the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

era. The original name of the settlement was Serminakuu meaning groups of 'grasses'. This name was changed to Banda, which is a corruption of 'Woanda' meaning 'they did not sleep'. Ancestors of Banda Ahenkro were allies of the

Asante kingdom Asante may refer to: * Anglican Diocese of Asante Mampong, Ghana * Asante Kotoko, an Ashanti professional football club * the Asante people * Ashanti (disambiguation) Ashanti may refer to: * Ashanti people, an ethnic group in West Africa ** Ashan ...

during wars and they provided a military force that virtually refused to sleep during at-war times. This is because they were predominantly

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

and were found praying throughout the night. Later, 'woanda' was also corrupted by the Bono neighbours to become Banda. The

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

evolved to become the chief town or 'Ahenkro' within a collection of

Nafana The Nafana are a Senufo people living in the central north-west of Ghana and the north-east of Côte d'Ivoire, in the area east of Bondoukou. They number about 45, 000 (SIL/GILLBT 1992) and they speak Nafaanra, a Senufo language. They are surro ...

communities. Banda Ahenkro which is the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

capital of

Banda District Banda District may refer to: * Banda District, India, a district in Uttar Pradesh, India * Banda District, Ghana Banda District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Tain D ...

was carved from

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

and forms part of the new districts and municipalities created in the year 2012 and were inaugurated at their various locations simultaneously on 28 June 2012. The late president, H.E. J.E.A Mills, by an Executive Instrument (E.I) created 46 new districts. All the inaugurated and confirmed MMDAs established are operational with immediate effect in 2012hence bringing the total number of MMDAs to 216. The district has a population of 45,000 with Banda Ahenkro having a population of 2,795 as at 2010 with males being 21,000 and females being 24,000. The population has been increasing over the years with a growth rate of 2.6%.

Economy

Agriculture is the main occupation among the workforce of Banda Ahenkro.

Transportation

Banda Ahenkro, the capital of

is 126 kilometres away from Sunyani, the regional capital (approximately 1 hour 47 minutes’ drive by road). The town is connected by road to

Wenchi Wenchi is a town and is the capital of Wenchi Municipal of the Bono Region in middle-belt of Ghana. Wenchi is located at 7.73333 atitude in decimal degrees -2.1 ongitude in decimal degreesat an average elevation/altitude of 304 meters. We ...

and Bui and its hydro electric power,

Bui Dam The Bui Dam is a hydroelectric project in Ghana. It is built on the Black Volta river at the ''Bui Gorge'', at the southern end of Bui National Park. The project is a collaboration between the government of Ghana and Sino Hydro, a Chinese constru ...

. Banda Ahenkro is not serviced by a railway station on the Ghana Railway Corporation.

Communications

The town of Banda Ahenkro is outfitted with modern communication facilities which include,

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

services. These services are provided by

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

providers

MTN Ghana MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...

Vodafone Ghana Vodafone Ghana, formerly Ghana Telecom, is the national telecommunications company of Ghana. The company in Ghana operates under Vodacom Group - Africa's leading mobile telecommunications company. As of January 2020, it had around 9.3 million mob ...

and

Tigo Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As of D ...

Culture

The people of Banda Ahenkro celebrate 'Forjour' which is a popular festival that's being celebrated by the town. 'Forjour' is a yam festival celebrated in the month of October every year, the climax of the yam

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

is the durbar of the king (Omanhene) through Banda traditional area. The festival is used as a means to remember their ancestors for protection and favour. It is also held to purify the area and allow its people to go into the traditional New Year with hope.

Sports

Many residents of Banda traditional area follows the Banda Ahenkro-based sports team, Bandaman Football Club, which is currently playing in the second division league.

Notable people

Banda Ahenkro is the home and birthplace of Ahmed Ibrahim, the current member of parliament for

, Mr. Alexander Kofi Essien, Registrar of

National

House of Chiefs A House of Chiefs (or ''House of Traditional Leaders'') is a post-colonial assembly, either legislative or advisory, that is recognised by either a national or regional government as consisting of and providing a collective, public voice for an eth ...

, and others.

Health

Banda Ahenkro (B/A), on 31 May 2005. GNA- The

Ghana Health Service The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is a Ghanaian government body established in 1996 as part of the Health Sector Reform of Ghana. The Health Service is under the Ministry of Health. The Health service primarily administrates the health services prov ...

handed over a multi-million-cedi Health Centre to the people at Banda Ahenkro in Brong Ahafo. Osabarima Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito I, Omanhene of Banda Traditional Area, who received the keys to the facility from Mr Ebenezer Awuku, Estate Officer of the

(GHS) in

Sunyani Sunyani is a city and the capital town of the Bono Region and the Sunyani Municipal District, Sunyani Municipal of Ghana. Sunyani had a population of 74,24at the 2010 population and housing census. The city consists mainly of the Bonos by tribe ...

in turn handed them over to the health personnel in-charge of the centre. The Omanhene commended the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and the GHS for the provision of the facility.

Tourism

Tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

to Banda Ahenkro are attracted by the area's natural environment. Attractions include the Nyua Kpoo Mountain and the Sheli Kpoo cave which are potential tourist sites.

References

{{Ghana district capitals

External links

Modernghana.com

Ghana Place Names
Populated places in the Bono Region Banda District (Ghana)