Bawku Municipal District is one of the fifteen districts in

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in north Ghana and is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers or 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. The Upper East regi ...

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 ...

. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Bawku East District; which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1439, until the southern part of the district was split off by a decree of president

John Agyekum Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been sp ...

in August 2004 to create

Garu-Tempane District Garu-Tempane District is a former district that was located in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Bawku East District in August 2004. However, on 15 March 2018, it was split out into two new districts: G ...

; thus the remaining part was elevated to municipal district assembly status on the same year to become Bawku Municipal District. However, on 28 June 2012, two parts of the district were later split off to create

Binduri District Binduri District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Bawku Municipal District in 1988; until two parts of the district were later split off to create Binduri District (f ...

(from the west) and

Pusiga District Pusiga District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Bawku Municipal District Bawku Municipal District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Orig ...

(from the east) respectively; thus the remaining part has been retained as Bawku Municipal District. The municipality is located in the eastern part of Upper East Region and has

Bawku Bawku is a town and is the capital of the Bawku Municipal District, district in the Upper East region of north Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bawku has a 2012 settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community ...

as its capital town.

Demographics

The population of Bawku Municipal District, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, is 98,538 representing 9.4 percent of the Upper East Region‟s total population. Males constitute 48.0 percent and females represent 52.0 percent. 36.4 percent of the population is rural and 63.6 percent is urban. It shares boundaries with Pusiga District to the north, Binduri District to the south,

to the east and Bawku West District to the west The Kusaasis are the first known settlers in the area. The other tribes in the area are the Mamprusis, Bisas, Mossi, Hausas etc. who are settlers. There are however large immigrant populations from other locations in northern and southern Ghana as well as from Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger and Nigeria. Of the population 11 years and above, 47.8% are literate and 52.2% are nonliterate. The proportion of literate males is higher (57.6%) than that of females (39.3%)

Economy

Agriculture is the dominant occupation of the people of the municipality, accounting for about 47.0 percent of the total occupation in the municipality. The major crops grown are millet, sorghum, maize, rice, groundnuts, leafy vegetables, pepper, watermelon, and onion. Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys etc. are also kept in the district.

Festivals

The Kusaasi are known for the celebration of Samanpiid. Other festivals celebrated by other communities are the Zekula by the Bisa people.

Administrative divisions

The district contains the following towns and villages. Of note are:

Gallery

File:Bawku Landscape in the Rainy Season.jpg, Bawku Landscape in the Rainy Season File:Work on the Yendi-Bawku Road. 1953.jpg, Work on the Yendi-Bawku Road. 1953

Sources

References

{{coord, 11, 3, 14.76, N, 0, 14, 18.6, W, region:GH, display=title Districts of Upper East Region