Winneba is a town and the capital of Effutu Municipal District in Central Region of South

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 ...

. Winneba has a population of 55,331. Winneba, traditionally known as ''Simpa'', is a historic

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

in south Ghana, lying on the south coast, east of Cape Coast. The current member of parliament is Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.

History

From pre-colonial times through the establishment of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colony the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, (Effutu) Winneba served as a

port town A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Fort Winneba Fort Winneba was a slave fort designed to facilitate the trade in enslaved people. The Royal African Company built the fort in 1694, on the Gold Coast, in modern-day Ghana. William Smith, who had been appointed to review the Company's castles ...

was built here. The people of Winneba ( Efutu) were led by their fearless spiritual leader and

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

, Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan with the support of a large youthful

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

called the Asafo Groups made up of both men and women. He ensured that his people were well protected from external attacks by other migrating families, clans, diseases or want of food.

Industry and culture

The main industries of Winneba are

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

. It is known for the Aboakyer

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

-hunting festival in Winneba and its New Year fancy dress carnival/masquerading festival. The town has a rich musical tradition and currently boasts of several renowned musical groups in the country, including the Winneba Youth Choir, the Osimpam Ompeh group, and the Akoo show Choir. Winneba Senior High School is the only major public secondary cycle educational institute available in this town. The

University of Education, Winneba A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

has its three main campus in Winneba (South Campus, Central Campus, North Campus ).

Festivals

Masquerade festival, popularly known as fancy dress, is held every new year among the people of Winneba. Its attracts a large number of tourists around the world. It is the second most popular festival in Winneba. The festival is held on a football park at the North campus of university of education by the five main masquerade groups. They come together and compete amongs themselves to select the winner for the trophy. These groups consists of Nobles as number one, Egya as number two, Atumu as number three and

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

as number four and Royals as number 5. ''Aboakyer festival'' is a bushbuck hunting festival celebrated by the people of Winneba in the Central Region of

. The name ''Aboakyer'' translates as 'hunting for game or animal' in Fante dialect as spoken by the people of the Central region. The institution of the festival was to commemorate the migration of the ''Simpafo'' (the aboriginal name of the people of Winneba). The Aboakyer Festival is being celebrated by the people of Effutu, who were among the earliest settlers of Ghana, for uncountable number of years. It sprang up when the Effutu people departed from Western Sudan and journeyed to the present town of Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. The came with their god, known as Penkye Otu.

Neighborhoods

Winneba has a number of neighborhoods stretching from the coastal areas to non-coastal areas. It also includes rural areas which provide farm power aside the fishing activity employed by the inhabitants of the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

s. Below are some of the well-known neighborhoods of Winneba.

Urban areas

* Winneba Junction * Lowcost * Yepemso * Nkwantanan * Kundum * Abasraba * Girls-Ase * Kojo-Beedu * Gyatakrom * Central Campus * North Campus * South Campus * Zongo * Sankor * Water-works

Rural areas

* Essuekyir * Woarabeba * Gyaahadze * Osubonpanyin * Ateitu * Atakyedo * Gyangyanadze * Kookrom

Climate

Sister cities

List of

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

of Winneba, designated by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...

Personalities

* Alex Quaison-Sackey, Ghanaian diplomat * Mike Hammah, Former member of parliament for Effutu Municipal * Honourable Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, current member of parliament for Effutu Municipal * Kojo Botsio, Ghanaian politician * Jacob Plange-Rhule, physician and academic

Notable Institutions

* Winneba Community Nursing Training College * Winneba Senior High School *Winneba School of Business * Winneba Vocational Training Institute * Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital * Winneba Fire Station

References

External links

Ghana-pedia webpage - Winneba
{{Authority control Populated places in the Central Region (Ghana)