Kpone-Akatamanso District Assembly
Kpone-Katamanso District Assembly (KKDA) was carved from the Tema Metropolitan Assembly in 2012 with the promulgation of the Legislative instrument (L.I.) 2031. The Assembly has a membership of 29 made up of 18 elected, 9 appointed, and 1 Member of Parliament and 1 District Chief Executive. The Assembly was inaugurated on 28th June 2012 to commence work. It started its official business on the 4th of July 2012. The District is located in the eastern part of the Greater Accra Region and stretches from the coast to the lower southern slopes of the Akuapim Mountains. It shares boundaries with Shai– Osudoku the North and Ningo-Prampram District Assembly on the East, Adentan to the West, Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the Gulf of Guinea on the south. The Kpone-Katamanso District is only a 38 kilometres drive from Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The economy of the District is largely bolstered on the hinges of agriculture, industry and commerce/service. The industry and service sectors give employment opportunity to the indigenes most especially on contract bases. The main occupation in the area includes fishing, fish mongering, farming (crop production and livestock rearing) and salt mining. Most of the youths in Kpone Township work in the industries in the Free zone areas, and in Katamanso. To the outskirts, most of the youths are engaged in sand and gravel winning and farming activities. Geological resources such as salt deposits exist at Kpoi-Ete. The population of the District, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, was 114,617 comprising 55,854 males and 58,763 females, with a projected annual growth rate of 2.9%. The District is largely rural and under developed.
LOCATION
Kpone-Katamanso is located along the coast in the Greater Accra Region and shares boundaries with Tema to the west, Dangbe West to the East, the Gulf of Guinea at the south and Akuapem South to the north. The topography of Kpone-Katamanso District Assembly is generally flat and forms part of the coastal plains, the almost flat nature of the district has made it flood prone and therefore demands a high cost for construction of drainage. It also instructive to establish the fact that the District has a very vast expanse of virgin land. And this opens it up as the next industrial hub; a drive the Assembly aspires to embark on.
CLIMATE
The district lies in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana. It enjoys a dry equatorial climate with a mean annual rainfall ranging between 730mm to 790mm. The rainy season is usually from April to July (major rainy season) and from September to November (minor rainy season). The highest amount of rain is experienced in May, June and early July. Temperatures are high all year round with significant daily and seasonal variations. The annual average temperatures range between 25oC and 30oC in the major rainy season while in the minor season temperatures ranges between 27oC and 35oC.
VEGETATION
Vegetation The vegetation zones in the district comprise the following: shrub and grassland. The grassland is found in areas like Appolonia, Gbetsile, Santeo, Katamanso, etc. where livestock and crop farming is practiced.GEOLOGY
The Precambrian rocks of the Dahomeyan formation underlie the District: metamorphic rocks mainly consisting of granite, gneiss and schist have been probably derived from sedimentary layers. Most of the communities in these areas have taken advantage of this and are engaged in stone quarry as a form of employment.THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
The District abounds in lots of natural resources such as lagoons, forest and shrub lands. The Gao and Laaloi lagoons enters the sea at paradise beach and Odii Nyonma beach respectively. The Laaloi lagoon begins from Dawhwenya and stretches to Kpoi-ete. The Laaloi lagoon mostly serves as place of pleasure for the community members as well as people from neighbouring towns during holidays. The aquatic resource paves way for dams to be built of which the Sagiana, Atta-laryea-bu, Domebra, Korkortsegbe, Otia-Mensah, Adjensu, Ajensei, Alokpana, Awutu-djor, Fetompuorrya-djor, Teshie Agbmacha-djor, Djormfaa, Butee, Adenkesu Djor,Tsenku Djor, Tsoko-faa, Nii Botswe, Tettehenyo, Tanbu, Djowulu and the Katamanso Dam are prominent. They serve as a habitat for many flora and fauna notable among them are the Mudfish, tilapia, tortoise etc. Apart from the Domebra (in Zeenu) and the Adjiesu (in Gbestile) which are facing threats of pollution due to unauthorized human activities, the rest of the dams are in fairly good condition and play a major role in the agricultural businesses of the area. They are usually tapped for irrigation in the farms in those areas. The forest in the area is known as the Pinkwai Forest popularly known for the Katamanso war which was fought between the Ga-Dangbes and the Ashantis. The shrub lands are gradually being taken over by estate developers and sand winning activities.POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION
Subject to the constitution of the republic of Ghana, the Kpone-Katamanso District Assembly is the highest political authority in the district and has deliberative, legislative and executive powers. The District Chief Executive represents the highest political head of the District and the District Coordinating Director is the administrative head of the Assembly. The District has 18 Unit Committee members and eighteen (18) elected and nine appointed Assembly members to the General Assembly who are automatically members of the Area Councils. The area of jurisdiction and functions of the Area Councils are set out in the LI 1589 of 1994 i.e. a 30 member Area Council overseeing administrative, political and developmental activities in the District.TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY
The District has recognised traditional authorities that help in the development process of the District. In Kpone, the head of the traditional institution is the paramount chief who rules with the help of a council of elders. These chiefs help to settle disputes and plan development projects. The traditional institution is highly respected, which explains why it has been resilient over the years. The traditional council plays a key role in mobilising the people for communal activities and should be the first point of call for any social event. It is noteworthy to mention that, the traditional authority within the district has been very benevolent in the way they quickly release large parcels of land for the infrastructural development agenda of the District. The various chiefs have donated parcels of land for the construction of schools, police stations, clinics among others. The Kpone traditional council has donated a very large portion of land for the construction of the Assembly’s office and residential accommodations and deserves an unreserved commendation. In the same vein, it has also permitted the Assembly to develop the office portion of its uncompleted community centre for use temporarily until the substantive offices are constructed in the near future.SANITATION
Access to sanitary facilities in the District is generally appreciable. The District has only 11 public toilets. Out of the 11 public toilets, 6 are situated in Kpone, 2 in Oyibi and the remaining 3 are in Kakasunanka. This implies that, some communities within the District will not have access to public toilets and this will encourage open space defecation (‘free range’). In Kpone for instance, some of the community members do not patronize the public toilets because they have to pay and thus defecate in open spaces (‘free range’) especially along the beaches. The District also have refuse containers placed at vantage points to serve the residents but some residents complained that the containers are not enough and this have made some of them to create unauthorized dumping sites within the community. The District also has a landfill site that serves the Tema metropolis and even the Accra Metropolis.
WATER
About 60% of the households in the District have access to pipe borne water from the Kpong Dam. The remaining 40% who do not have access to pipe borne water but depend on water tanker services, dams, rivers, streams and lagoons as their source of water. However, out of the 60% who have access to potable water, 40% do not have regular flow of water and therefore rely on private water tanker services due to low pressure during the dry season. Some areas in the District that lack potable water and depend mostly on water tanker services are Katamanso, Kubekro 1&2, Zeenu, part of Gbetsile, Santeo, Adigon and Gonten
ECONOMY
The main occupation in the area includes fishing, fish mongering, farming (crop production and livestock rearing) and salt mining. Majority farmers in the area use indigenous tools such as hoes and cutlasses as their main tools for farming activities. Most of the youth in Kpone work are engaged in sand winning and farming activities. The women in this area are also engaged in the nursing of seedlings for sale and petty trading, whilst a sizable number of men and women are civil servants. Agricultural activities in the district are very prominent and this can be grouped into crop production, livestock production, fishing and agro-processing. The crops produced in the District are maize, cassava, tomatoes, onions, pepper and okro. Crop farming is predominant in the Katamanso area whereas fishing is predominant in Kpone. Animal rearing is most practised in the Katamanso area. The types of animal reared in the district include cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and grass cutter. These animals are produced on both subsistence and commercial basis. Some livestock and poultry farms located in the District include Dufie Farms, Agro-Chic Farms, Prudence Farm and Chris Farm. Fishing and its related activities play a vital role in the economic development of the district. Fishing is predominant in the Kpone area because the community is close to the sea. The type of fishing practiced includes ring net fishing, hooking and wide net fishing. The fishermen use local canoes operated by outboard motors. Those engaged in this activity have grouped themselves into associations. These associations are the Fish Mongers Association and the Cooperative Fishing Society. However, the Cooperative Fishing Society is now redundant due to poor management and lack of funds.
INDUSTRY
The Tema Free Zone is located in Kpone-Katamanso District. The District can also boast of so many industries both big and small. These industries offer employment to the local people as well as the neighbouring communities.
ARTISAN VILLAGE
The District is privileged to have the light industrial area in its locality. The resident artisans are involved in various activities like car spraying, welding, fitting and vulcanizing. It has an active Garages Association under the Ghana National Association of Garages and the area where all these artisans are sited is popularly known as ‘Kokompe’ in Haanaa. These industrial activities though small in nature have offered skill and employment to some of the youth in the area.
SERVICE AND COMMERCE
Commercial activities within the District are tied to the outside markets of Tema, Accra, Kasei, Ashaiman, Agomenya and Kasoa. The fairly good nature of the roads in the area has resulted in good commercial linkages with these markets. The main commodities traded are; smoked fish, okro, palm nut and vegetables. A proportion of the women in the District are also engaged in baking and its related activities. The service sector is also prominent in the District. There exist business centres, small communication centres (Space to Space), photo shops, Drinking Spot, just to mention a few
ROADS/ TRANSPORTATION
The District is accessible and well connected to other towns. Apart from the major roads within the District that are tarred most of the road networks within the District are untarred. Surface condition of roads in the area can therefore be described as dusty, rough, bumpy and sometimes very muddy during the rainy season especially at areas where there are no drains.