PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Location
The Municipality is located in the Volta Region of Ghana and lies within Latitudes 6° 55’ N and 7° 05’ N, and Longitude 0° 23’ E. It shares boundaries with Biakoye District in the North, Afadzato South to the East and North Dayi District in the South. The Volta Lake, which stretches over 20km of the coastal line, demarcates the western boundary. The Municipality covers approximately a total land area of 314.07 square kilometers representing 1.5% of the Volta Region with almost 12% of the land submerged by the Volta Lake. Kpando, the Municipal capital, is about 70km from Ho, the Regional Capital.
Climate
The Municipality falls within the tropical zone and is generally influenced by the South West Monsoon winds from the South Atlantic Ocean and the dry Harmattan winds from the Sahara. There are two rainy seasons, the major one occurs from mid-April to early July and the minor one from September to November. Annual rainfall ranges from an average of 900mm to 1,300mm. The mean annual temperature is about 27 Celsius whereas the mean daily temperature ranges from 22 to 33 Celsius. The months of February and March are generally the hottest while July and August are relatively cooler. The average relative humidity is 80 percent.
Vegetation
The vegetation of the Municipality is characterized by guinea savannah woodland. The savannah woodlands consist of grass with scattered trees like acacia, bamboo and baobabs. These are found along the River Dayi Basin. However extensive human activities such as charcoal burning, farming, logging etc. have reduced the vegetation to secondary and savanna.
Drainage
The Volta Lake and the River Dayi are the major water bodies that run in the Municipality.
The Volta Lake is the biggest water body in the Municipality. It runs along the whole of the western corridor with big potentials for irrigation agriculture, aqua-culture, tourism and fishing. The River Dayi lies to the East and its basin provides a prime farming land for the cultivation of a variety of food crops and vegetables. Geology and soils
The Municipality is generally underlained by Buem volcanic rocks stretching through to Jasikan and Kadjebi Districts. The major soil types that had developed from this parent rock are the Savannah ochrosols (reddish, lightly acidic; more fertile) “oxysol” (heavily drained; yellowish; less fertile and ground water laterites. This is characterized by sandy loamy type of soil with local adaptation. Along the Lake Volta and the River Dayi, the alluvial silt loam dominates
There are also large deposits of clay at Kpando, Gbefi and Kudzra suitable for the development of bricks and tile, pottery and ceramics industry. Generally soils in the Municipality support the cultivation of both food and cash crops.
GOVERNANCE
The Assembly was elevated to a Municipal Status with the passage of L.I. 2073 in 2012. The Assembly is composed of 19 Elected Members and 9 Government Appointees, the Municipal Chief Executive and the Member of Parliament for the Kpando Constituency.
The Assembly is by law, the highest Political, Administrative, and Planning Authority in the Municipality with deliberative, legislative and executive powers. The Assembly has responsibility for the overall development of the Municipality.
Below the Assembly are three (3) Zonal Councils namely Kpando, Gbefi and Sovie and Unit Committees in every community.
The General Assembly elects a Presiding Member from among themselves by two-third majority. He presides over the meetings of the Assembly for a two-year term. The Assembly has an Executive Committee presided over by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) who is appointed by the President with prior approval of not less than 2/3 majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at a meeting.
The Local Governance Act (936) spells out in greater details the specific functions of the Assembly in areas of health, public works, rehabilitation, maintenance, agriculture, roads, physical developments, sanitation, etc.
Departments of the Assembly
The Assembly is expected to have 13 Departments. These Departments support the Assembly in the discharge of its functions. Some of the departments such as Natural Resources Conservation, Forestry, Game and Wildlife Division, Transport and Urban Roads are yet to be fully established in the Municipality. The Departments that have been established in the Municipality are Central Administration, Finance Department, Department of Education, Youth and Sports, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Physical Planning Department, Department of Social Welfare And Community Development, Works Department, Department Of Industry and Trade and Urban Roads Department.
POPULATION
Projected population figures from the 2010 PHC by the Ghana Statistical Service, puts the total population of the Municipality at 62,240 in 2017 with males constituting 48.21% whilst females constitute 51.79 %. The population of the Municipality is estimated to be growing at a rate of 2.5% per annum. The population of the Municipality represents 2.5% of the regional population. The Municipality is predominantly urban populated (55.01%) compared to the rural areas (44.99%).
ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES
Markets
Kpando Market
The Kpando Market is the largest in the Municipality. It stretches over 1.5 hectares of land with 60% permanent structures and 40% temporary structures. The market has an extensive sphere of influence that goes beyond the Municipality’s boundaries covering Jasikan, Hohoe, Ho and Biakoye M/DAs, and parts of Eastern and Greater Accra Regions. The market operates every five days. The market counts as one of the major sources of revenue to the Assembly.
Torkor Market
It is the second largest market in the Municipality. The market was developed from the fishing industry and was a buoyant commercial center in the 1980s and 1990s.
Road Network
The Municipality has approximately a total road network of 242 kilometers (km). Forty Eight (48) km of that are paved and 194 unpaved roads. The conditions of the paved roads are as follows:
- 22km is in good state
- 5km is in fair state
- 15km is in bad state
The conditions of the unpaved roads are as follows:
- 45km is in good state
- 36km is in fair state
- 114km is in poor state
The 114km which are Un-engineered road network in the Municipality requires urgent maintenance to facilitate free movement of goods, services and persons in the Municipality in order to promote economic activities.
Lake/ Water Transport
The Volta Lake with a shoreline measuring about 20km long forms the western boundary of the Municipality. The Municipality is therefore accessible with engine boats which provide opportunity for heavy interaction between the two entry points of Kpando Torkor and settlements in the Kwahu North and Afram Plains Districts.
Postal and Telecommunication
The Municipality has a Post Office located at Kpando which is currently experiencing down turn of business due to the presence of other cheap methods of communication. In terms of the spread of Communication services, major service providers namely the Vodafone, MTN, Airtel and Tigo are operating in the Municipality with wider coverage.
Banking Services
The Municipality is serviced by two (2) Commercial Banks namely, Ghana Commercial Bank and Agricultural Development Bank as well as three (3) Rural Banks and a number of micro financial institutions that provide credit facilities to the general public.
Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry has improved considerably with the development of Guest houses and hotels. Some of the facilities in the Municipality are Same Sisters, CEDES Guest House, Ash Town Guest House, Catherine lodge, First Class, Johnson Inn and Hotor Hotel all located at Kpando.
CULTURE
The indigenous inhabitants of the Municipality are mainly Ewe-speaking people who originally migrated from Notsie, Togo in the 17th century. The people of the Municipality are organized under traditional areas with paramount chiefs and sub-chiefs as symbols of authority. Ownership of property is passed on by patrilineal inheritance.
Chieftaincy
The Municipality is traditionally ruled by three authorities namely; Kpando, Gbefi and Sovie. Each of the traditional areas is headed by a paramount chief with various sub chiefs for various communities. The traditional authorities administer stool lands, holding them in trust for the people and also lead in the organization and celebration of festivals and other community programs. They are also the custodian of traditional beliefs and customs.
Festivals
The traditional areas celebrate some very important festivals and most community development projects are initiated during the celebration of such festivals. Most of these celebrations are characterized by music and dance dominated by the famous “Borborbor” Dance. The festivals are symbols of unification and they also serve as tourist attractions with potentials to boost the local economy. Some of the major festivals celebrated in the municipality are SASADUZA, Danyigbakaka, Duawokpeza etc
Religion
The people in the Municipality practice Traditional, Christian and Islamic Religions. Christianity is the predominant faith among the populace constituting about 87.8 percent of the population followed by the Islamic religion with about 6.0 percent and Traditional religion with about 2.9 percent. The other religions form 0.7 percent of the population whereas people who do not belong to any religion comprise 2.6 percent of the total population.
MUNICIPAL SECURITY
The administrative body responsible for the overall management of security matters in the Municipality is the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) chaired by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE). Others include all the security agencies operating in the Municipality such as:
- Police Service
- Prison Service
- Ghana Immigration Service
- Fire Service
- Naval Command
OCCUPATION
The majority of the population is engaged in the service sector constituting (47.0%) followed by the Agriculture sector including forestry and fishing which constitute (32.0%). The craft and related services make up about (20.0%) of the population while the population engaged in other occupations was found to be the least (1%).
AGRICULTURE
The economy of the Municipality is dominated by agricultural activities and it is estimated that about 32.0% (2010 census) of the active population is engaged either directly or indirectly in this sector. The climatic condition in the Municipality favorably supports variety of crops and livestock production. Crop production is characterized by small farms land holdings with average farm size of less than a hectare. Farmers use simple farming tools and techniques, shifting cultivation practices and over reliance on rain-fed agriculture. About 62% of farmers in the Municipality are subsistent food crop growers, 17% are involved in tree crop farming, and 3% are in industrial crop production and about 18% in livestock farming. The major constraint confronting commercial production of crops is accessibility to markets and lack of processing and storage facilities.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
The Industrial sector in the Municipality is dominated by few formal industries which have been abandoned, and the rural and urban informal sectors. According to the 2010 population census, only 15.5% of the active labor force is employed in the manufacturing industry. The main manufacturing activities involved are the leatherworks, agro-processing and metal fabrication. This is followed by wholesale and retail shops, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (20.7%).
Rural Informal Industrial Sector Employment
The rural informal sector mainly involves agro-processing of cassava into chips and Gari. Other agro processing activities included Palm oil extraction, and fish processing. The other activities that dominate the rural informal industrial sector are blacksmithing, welding, distilling, wood carving, pottery, and weaving.
TOURISM
The Municipality has great potentials in this sector of the economy; however insufficient efforts were made over the years to harness these potentials for income and employment generation.
These impressive tourism potentials include natural environmental heritage, historical heritage, cultural heritage and other attractions. Among the natural attractions is the climate, mountains, hills and the scenic beauty of the Volta Lake together with its numerous Islands which provides a broad base for the development of eco-tourism, recreation and water resorts.
Historical Heritages
Among the historic heritage are interesting histories of Kpando as an archaeological site and, the relics of the German colonial Administration. The German administered Kpando as a station under German Togoland Colony and the remains of the stones, bricks forts, residential and administrative offices are located at Kpando Todzi. The Kpando Todzi residences were later used by officials of the post-colonial government until it was locked up in 1990s. The Forts however currently serves as the Kpando Prison. Other potentials in the Municipality are the production of handicrafts, Grottoes at Agbenoxoe and Kpando Aziave. The major constraint in this sector is low investment in the development of the sector.
EDUCATION
Public Basic Schools:
There are, one hundred and nine (113) Public schools. This comprises, thirty-seven (37) Kindergartens, forty (40) Primary, thirty-one (31) Junior High Schools and one (1) Community Inclusive Special School.
Public Senior High and Technical School level:
There are two (2) Senior High Schools and two (2) Technical Institutes in the Municipality.
Private Basic Education level:
There are fifty seven (57) Private Schools. This comprises twenty-one (21) Kindergartens, Twenty-one (21) Primary and fifteen (15) Junior High Schools.
Private Senior High
There is one (1) Senior High School.
HEALTH FACILITIES
The Municipality has 17 health facilities made up of one (1) mission Hospital called Margaret Marquart and one (1) private hospital known as St. Patrick, 2 private maternity homes at Aziave and Torkor, 5 health centers which are Kpando Health Centre, Torkor, KudzraGadza and Agbenoxoe, 8 Community Health Planning and Systems (CHPS) Avetikope, Dafor,, Fesi, Gbefi, BIHECO, KPASEC, Kpando Market, Sovie.
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (LED)
The Assembly in its quest to ensure socio-economic development of the Municipality has adopted an approach to development that focuses on fully harnessing the economic potentials and resources of the local areas for job creation and consequently improved living standards. The broad objective is to build up the economic capacity of the Municipality to improve its economic status and the quality of life for all. In that regard, the Assembly had identified possible business potentials for development to achieve the above aim some of which included:
- Development of irrigation facilities in the Municipality to support vegetable and other crops production
- Establishment of farm mechanization center (tractors, ploughs, combined harvesters etc.)
- Rice production and establishment of rice milling center
- Development of storage facilities
- Development of Agro processing facilities
- Development of Aqua culture and fish processing facilities
- Cash crop production
- Development of Fruits and vegetable processing facilities
- Development of an art village ( Pottery, kente weaving, beads making, wood processing/ carving)
- Large scale production of animals
- Tourism development
- Revival of tile and bricks industry.
The Municipality is a fertile ground for investment and we encourage investors to take advantage and invest at Kpando.