THE decision by the government to create new districts is premised on accelerating the pace of development of the communities and entrench the decentralisation programme.
Consequently, when in 2007 the President created the Atwima Kwanwoma District out of the Bosomtwi Atwima Kwanwoma District, it brought some measure of hope to the people.
Atwima Kwanwoma is rich in natural resources including timber, cocoa and food crops but it was neglected to the extent that a good number of the roads in the area were not motorable.
The area is very close to Kumasi but the state of development made it look like an area miles away from the garden city. This is not to say that communities far away from the cities must remain neglected. Far from that.
Apart from roads the district needs improvement in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation, among others.
For the uninitiated, the district is located at the central portion of the region and shares borders in the north with Atwima Nwabiagya, in the south with Amansie West, in the east with Bosomtwe and the north-east with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.
Atwima Kwanwoma has Foase as the district capital and its communities include Trede, Twedie, Traboum, Ahenema Kokoben and Nweneso. The district covers a total area of 340,899 square kilometres, representing 1.4 per cent of the region’s total surface area.
With a projected population of 90,249 based on the 2000 population and housing census, with an average growth rate of three per cent, Atwima Kwanwoma has a fair share of the population of the Ashanti Region.
Politically, the district is divided into two area councils and further sub divided into 22 electoral areas.
Agriculture remains a major economic activity in terms of employment and income. About 61 per cent of the active labour force is engaged in agriculture.
To be able to tackle the challenges head-on, the new assembly intends to apply part of its share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) in the provision of office accommodation for the central administration and the decentralised departments for effective running of the assembly.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Emmanuel Agyei Dankwah, has indicated his preparedness to lead the people to bring positive development to the district.
During a recent tour of some communities in the district, the DCE stressed the need for the people to come together to fight poverty, disease and ignorance, which have remained enemies of their progress.
According to him, good policies that the government and the assembly had laid out for the people would only become a reality when the people join forces with the authorities to prosecute the agenda.
he DCE paid courtesy calls on the chiefs and people of Foase, the district capital, Hwidiem and Traboum.
He gave the assurance that the government was exerting all efforts to provide them with social amenities such as electricity, roads, district hospital and market centres.
The DCE urged the youth of the community to see themselves as superior human beings endowed with creative abilities that could be harnessed for the development of the country and therefore implored them to register with the National Youth Employment Programme for a better future.
He called on parents to utilise the opportunity offered by the NPP government and train their children to radiate the virtues of love, peace and empathy at their tender age.
He stated that education, which is the bedrock of manpower development of every country, formed and shaped the personality of the individual and prepared him or her to take future roles in the community and the nation.
Mr Dankwah advised the people especially pregnant women to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme to receive better health care.
He encouraged cocoa farmers in the communities to work hard as the government had increased the producer price of cocoa from GH¢80 to GH¢120.
These are important points raised by the DCE and if they are to be taken seriously, the benefits would be enormous for the people.
As a predominantly agrarian district, Atwima Kwanwoma should be supported to improve farming activities.
Education also must be of prime importance to the district assembly.
In this era that most assemblies are allocating a chunk of their resources to support education, Atwima Kwanwoma cannot remain behind. This is so because education holds the key to the development of the nation.
The future definitely would look good for the district if the laudable policies and programmes laid out by the assembly are implemented to the fullest.
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