PLR Basic info

VOLTA LAKE ISLANDERS IN SENE,

KRACHI WEST, and KRACHI EAST 

 This study is part of a research programme on northern Ghana, launched in 1985 by the Ghana Evangelism Committee, and leading to publication of Peoples, languages, and religion in northern Ghana (420 pages) in 1986.

 The present paper is one of 40 new and up-to-date chapters covering every people of northern Ghana. It is being published as a website and later in a printed book. Please check with barker214@btinternet before quoting from this paper.

 Some of the research team’s personal recommendations involve cost; we suggest funds should be raised on the islands and elsewhere to finance construction of pit latrines, boreholes, CHPS clinics, and schools. The island communities will be more supportive of projects in which they have invested their own money.  

 We are grateful to the Hon Moses Ponye, Krachi West CEO, Dr Doe, Krachi West District Director of Health Services, and Mr George Achibra, of PACODEV (Partners in Community Development) without whose practical support our December 2010 visit to the islands would not have been possible; Dr Doe released Mr Trinity Gbekor, qualified nurse, to take part in the visit, and made available the Department’s outboard motor boat. Mr Achibra lent a spare outboard motor.   

peoples Krachi, Ewe, Ga-Adangbe, Fante, Konkomba, Kotokoli, Fulani

languages all the above speak their own languages

main towns (on mainland) Kete-Krachi; Dambai (pop. 15,680, 2008); Tokuroano (pop. 6,000, 2008 estimate)    

chiefs the following authorise settlement of land   

Nana Kwaku Beyenno II (Nkomi chief in Kajaji) for Lala (Sene);

Nana Krachiwura for Dorbiso and Aglakope (Krachi West);

the Dambai chief for Otisu and other islands in Krachi East.

local chiefs and headmen serve their own communities.

main occupations migrants from Krachi, Konkomba, and Kotokoli are farmers, migrants from the Atlantic coast (Ewe, Ga-Adangbe, and Fante) are fishermen; the Fulani are herdsmen.

locations and scope of study

      This chapter is based on preliminary visits in May (Lala Island) and December (Dorbiso and Aglakope) 2010 to locations on the shorelines of three out of nine or ten inhabited islands between 7  ͦ25’ N and  7  ͦ75’ N. Our study was confined to the coastal fishing communities and did not reach the farming communities further inland. It is hoped to revisit the islands in the near future, in order to reach the farming communities, and to study the remaining six or seven islands in the area.

      Spelling of place names is not standardised.

      Shorelines    Shorelines may vary from season to season and from year to year as the Lake water level responds to rainfall. A late 1960s document stated that 756 villages were submerged and that the water level reached the 85m (280ft) contour.

(continued on page 4) 

The maps on these two pages are adapted from a map prepared for “40 northern Ghana peoples” by the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Services, Department of Geography, University of Ghana, Legon, by kind permission.

VOLTA LAKE ISLANDS

between 7 ͦ30' N and 7 ͦ45' N

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The broken lines show the borders between Sene, Krachi West, Krachi East, and Jasikan Districts.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

      All readers are asked to correct any information found to be incomplete or incorrect, by email to barker214@btinternet.com. 
 
 
 
 

(continued from page 1)

      The Ghana Survey Department 1:500,000 map on sale today shows shorelines based on the 275ft contour. The 1:50,000 sheets are based on later data.

      Seasons of very heavy rain cause flooding and collapse of buildings. 2010 rains forced Otisu Kpedzi (Dorbiso Island) to relocate further along the coast.

      The individual Lake islands have no official names but those in Krachi West District are known there collectively as the Denteh Islands. In 40 NGP we call them after the main villages where our boat or other boats land, but we suggest that the three Districts should give official names to each island so that they can be properly identified in future. There may well be other islands which we have not listed. Boats going to these islands may leave the mainland from Kete-Krachi, Dambai, Gyantae (Chantai, Jantai) , and other places.

      The ten or more islands on the Lake between 7  ͦ 25’ N and 7  ͦ 75’ N belong to three Districts:

Sene District includes Lala and Okpalama; maps based on low water level show 1) Lala connected to the road west to Kajaji and Kwame Danso, 2) Okpalama-Atigagome connected to the Digya peninsula to the south; (but both became islands after the heavy rains of October-December 2010);

Krachi West District includes Dorbiso and Aglakope Islands which are shown on some maps as connected to the mainland; most maps are based on higher water level and show both areas as islands. Gyantae (Chantai, Jantai) in the SE corner of the Kete-Krachi peninsula is said to have become an island for a time, after the heavy rains of late 2010;

Krachi East District appears to include some six or more islands off the coast of Krachi East and Jasikan, including islands/villages known as Volivo in the north, Gedege (Geedege), Atsonglopo, Nyekomakpoe, and Krachi Akura, and the major island of Otisu Island and further south.

POPULATION AND SIZE: VERY ROUGH ESTIMATES

      2 islands (Dorbiso, Aglarkope) S and SE of Gyantae;

      Dorbiso Island (the village is spelled Dobeso on the map) is about 15 km W to E, 30 km N to S; Aglarkope is approximately an equilateral triangle with 7-8 km sides.

LANGUAGE

      Lala Island:  Lala Primary School ethnic profile in March 2010 was: Konkomba 50%; Ga-Dangme 30%; Fante 20%.

      Dorbiso Island: 15-34 localities   Dorbiso Island could have a population of 8,000-10,000 (700 in Old Dorbiso village). We await reliable figures from the 2010 Census. The number of named localities varies from 15 to 34:

            District map from Krachi West District office (hand-drawn): 15

            CERSGIS map (based on satellite images): 17

            Kete-Krachi Credit Union map (hand-drawn): 34

      Aglarkope Island  has two locations. Seven other islands in this part of the Lake have a further 10 or a dozen localities.  It is hoped to provide information on all these places in a future edition of this publication.

      Other islands mentioned could have 10,000 or more inhabitants.

GENERAL NOTES ON ALL ISLAND COMMUNITIES

Chieftaincy, community, police

      Islands began to form from 1966 when the Akosombo dam was completed and the water level rose; but the public were told not to settle on islands, perhaps because government departments could not provide adequate care by lake transport to so many small and scattered communities. However government policy was ignored; between 100 and 200 small agricultural and fishing villages have developed, and the government has not attempted to expel the inhabitants. Neither government nor non-government agencies are providing educational, medical, and other services to the same standard as on the mainland. A number of parents send their children to school in Kete-Krachi.

      In spite of the problems, these communities have become relatively stable; the inhabitants are busy with fishing, agriculture, and herding cattle, and are peaceful and law-abiding.

      One person commented that some fishermen from Ghana’s southern coast do not integrate into the community or settle permanently in the area but make their money and return home. 

      Police   There are two divisional Police HQs, one at Kwame Danso, covering Lala and Atigagome; the other at Kete-Krachi, with sub-Districts based at Kete-Krachi, Dambai, and Nkwanta. The Krachi and Dambai stations serve the islands in Krachi West and Krachi East Districts.

      The police have no water-borne transport to respond to a call if there is one, and no police are based on any island; members of the public can phone the police from mobile phones but if they require police assistance they must provide their own boat.

Farming, fishing, daily life

      Fishing Sene District Assembly provides Lala Island with a book of byelaws which includes minimum fishing-net mesh of 5 cm to preserve fish stocks; but nets of smaller mesh (2 cm or less) are typical. Fishermen who do not have a boat work on foot, close in to the shore, where there are no larger fish and a 5 cm mesh would catch nothing.

      Most fishing boats work within 1 km from the shore, making two or three catches a day, mainly for one hour from 5.00 or 6.00 am and from 3.00 or 4.00 pm; in May 2010 a good catch earned C20.00, a poor catch C8.00. Canoes carry crews of 4 to 8, including children from the age of 10-12 some of whom also attend school.

      There are said to be 50 canoes based on Lala Island, 21 at Dorbiso village.

      Some fishermen use DDT to make the fish easier to catch, though it kills both bigger and smaller fish and is illegal. The plant kesa is a much better alternative.

      Ghana Inland Revenue staff are based at Kwadjokrom, and come to Lala to collect annual canoe fees of NGC12.00 per canoe. It is thought they succeed in collecting from only 30 out of 50 canoe owners.

      For trying to enforce the rule against cutting living wood and throwing it in the Lake to attract fish the Lala Assemblyman suffered verbal abuse from a fisherman as the writer was looking on; the nearest police are far away in Kwame Danso and Kete-Krachi, and would be unlikely to track down the culprit.

      (Some of the following paragraphs are based on a World Vision paper relating to Krachi East.)

      Farming   Farmers use hoe and cutlass.  Land is available on application to the chief. Crops include maize, millet, guinea corn, yam, beans, groundnuts. Crops and cattle are transported by canoe to markets at Yeji (Pru), Kajaji (Sene), Kete-Krachi, (Krachi West), Tapa Abotoase (Jasikan District, a 65 km voyage across the Lake) and elsewhere.

  Rearing cattle    The Government veterinary service have staff in Kete-Krachi but cannot maintain vehicles to keep them mobile and do not provide a full service. Cattle-owners tend to treat their animals themselves and bring them to the veterinary staff as a last resort. The veterinary staff have the burdizzo tool so they can carry out castration, but they have to buy much of their stock of antibiotics, vaccines and other medication from traders, as the Veterinary Service do not keep stocks.

      Fulani cowherds employed by local cattle owners sometimes let their animals damage farms, resulting in police involvement. 

      Model ecovillage  It is understood that Lasajang (Sene) uses internet exchange programmes to improve agriculture [more details please].  They have a grain bank which buys crops during the farming season, when prices are low, and sells back in the dry season, charging a low rate of interest.

      Crafts include a furniture workshop, a blacksmithy to make tools, making “tyre sandals” from old tyres, leather goods from cow and goat skins, basket-making, weaving, pottery, and calabash carving. Tilapia are raised in a few fish-ponds

EDUCATION    

      There is no JHS on any of the islands. We doubt if pupils from any islands school have ever attended a JHS.

      Lala (Sene District)    There are Primary schools at Lala and Ogetse, but  teachers are sometimes absent – in 2010 the Assemblyman said he would submit a report on teachers’ pay and attendance.

      Several Primary school buildings were built in the 1980s with strong frames of wooden beams bolted together with steel plates, and with desks and tables; the excellent cement blackboards have been well maintained by repainting, and chalk is available; most other school buildings are of mud.

      The Lala community put up a mud school building in 1979; teachers were paid by GES. A more solid building was started between 2008 and 2010 but the contractor left the work unfinished early in 2010 and up to May 2010 the building had not been handed over for use.

      Dorbiso and Aglakope Islands (Krachi West District)  There are Primary school buildings, but inadequate staff provision, at the following places:

Primary Schools in Kete Sub-Island Circuit (Krachi West)
On Mainland	On Dorbiso Island	On Aglarkope Island
Ameyiwokope	Old Dobeso	Aglakope
Old Chantae	Oti-Kponfri
Adonten Cement	Kponfri Dzila Kope
Old Nana Sewae	Mantsekope
Nkyenekyene	Basari
	Otisu Kpedzi
	Tokpo
	Kpodede Azizakpe

   Only 5 out of 16 villages on Dorbiso and Aglakope Islands have a primary school with even a single teacher.  Thus in these island fishing and farming communities, most parents do not have the option of education for their children. 55 years after Nkrumah introduced “universal primary education” the Volta Lake islands do even seem to be aiming at that target. 

      Child labour is forbidden by law but is inescapable. Until we succeed in meeting the need for schools, these fishing communities on the island coasts and farming communities inland are bound to see child labour as their children’s only available preparation for adult life as fishermen and farmers. Meanwhile the community, working through their assemblymen and District Assemblie,s must not be content till the option of primary education is universally available and child labour is a thing of the past.

      It has proved impossible to maintain staff; one school on Dorbiso Island lost its entire complement of teachers between August and October 2010.

      The Krachi West Schools Circuit Supervisors, based in Kete-Krachi, attempt to visit the islands with some regularity. However problems of access make supervision of schools difficult and sometimes impossible. 

A teacher who is loyal to the islands

      Our informant at Dzila Kope, the village that suffered the most damage in the September-December 2010 flooding, was Mr Felix Amenyawu, from Denu. Felix gained his Teacher’s Certificate “A” in 1988, was posted to Dzila Kope in 1990, and has served ever since in the same station – an outstanding record of loyal service which needs to be copied by future staff serving in this area.

Islands in Krachi East District 

      World Vision reports that in Krachi East only 5% of pupils have desks. Some schools without a building meet under trees or in unwalled pavilions.

Health

      Up to December 2010 when this study was conducted, Lala and Dorbiso Islands had no clinic or CHPS facility, so villagers must travel 30 km by canoe to Kete-Krachi District Hospital for any kind of medical treatment. There is no register of births and deaths. The polio and yellow fever immunisation team visit about once in six months (ideally every three months). There are untrained TBAs in many villages, and two TBAs on Lala Island, trained at Kwame Danso, Sene District.

  Over half of pregnant women travel to the clinics on the mainland to have their babies.  Seriously ill people are taken by canoe to Kete-Krachi or Jasikan hospitals, or to a clinic at Abotoase, if the family can afford to hire a canoe.

      World Vision report that 15% of the population of Krachi East suffer in some way from onchocerciasis (river blindness).

SERVICES

Transport   

      There are dirt tracks but no made-up roads on the islands. Canoes, motor-cycles, and pedal-cycles are privately-owned and there is no public transport.

      Canoes   The typical small canoe is made of 30 x 2½ cm wooden planks, and may be 7+ metres long. The floor comprises three planks, the sides and stern are made of one-and-a-quarter planks. The bow is pointed, the stern is at right angles to the sides, with outboard motor fixed to the stern.  Larger canoes are constructed on the same principle, and may have two outboard motors.

      Canoes are sometimes loaded beyond their safe capacity, and in a heavy swell water overlaps the sides. However accidents and sinkings are very rare. A canoe sank in November 2009 with the loss of the cargo of yams and groundnuts, but no loss of life.

            There are some boats with fibre-glass hull and outboard motor, including those owned by Ghana Health Service, the Credit Union, and PACODEV at Kete-Krachi.

      Regular ferries run between Kojokrom and Kete Krachi; a pontoon ferry carries vehicles and foot passengers between the Borae No 2 road and Dambai.

      Electricity   The islands are not linked to the national grid, but there are a few privately-owned generators.

      Sanitation   There are no community-owned pit latrines on any of the islands, and few privately-owned pit latrines. Many people use areas in the bush, creating a

health hazard, especially during the rainy season, when water at the coast is contaminated by the run-off from the land.

      Water     In mainland towns, commercially-packed borehole water is available everywhere in plastic 500ml sachets. There are no boreholes on any of the islands, and everyone is forced to depend for drinking water drawn from the Lake shore, thus creating a health hazard.

COMMUNITY

      Child labour, child trafficking, and the PACODEV orphanage    The fishing industry makes heavy demands for labour; some fishermen employ their own children for early morning fishing and send them to school later; some employ other children, or get cheap labour through child trafficking – parents part with boys and girls aged between 3 and 10 years in return for a cash payment.

      George Achibra attempts to rescue them and runs an NGO home for trafficked children in Kete-Krachi, where they can be cared for and given basic education. Known as “Partners in Community Development” (PACODEV) it rescued some 200 children between 2007 and 2010 and has received funds from charities in Texas, Ohio, and Philadelphia, USA, to build classrooms and accommodation for both boys and girls. In December 2010 22 children were in residence, 11 older children apprenticed to a trade, 11 younger children in PACODEV’s own GES Primary school.

      One boy was bought at the age of 8 and spent 9 years working without pay for his

“owner” before being rescued by PACODEV at the age of 15; PACODEV apprenticed him to a carpenter in Kete-Krachi. Another boy was recovered by the “owner” and had to be rescued a second time.

      About 30% of the children are from Fante homes, 70% from Ewe, including a number from the notorious Trokosi shrines where girls are taken from their parents to pay for alleged offences against the Trokosi god.

RELIGION

Traditional religion

      The following traditional gods are mentioned, but do not have a very large number of followers: Tigare, Eso (Lala), Nsoya (Adase), Kefrinipusipusi (Kotokoli), Nanguri (Yabin; the owner died and his son took the god to Kete-Krachi), Kukrutumi (Asutsuare), Motodua (Otisu Kpedzi), Tsaduma (Dsatake), Ekpelekpedzi (Anlo Kope and Kponfri).

      Viekparien (spelling uncertain) was mentioned as an aspect of polytheistic religion on Lala.

      Parug gpieli (spelling uncertain) is a kind of harvest festival celebrated on Lala in September-October at which farmers share their experiences

      We did not hear of traditional shrines or priests, or the extent of traditional religious practices on the islands, though individual households may practise them.

 

SUMMARY OF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ASKED – 1
villages listed in order of visits	main people	other peoples	assembly-man in 2010	schools	traditional gods	churches
LALA ISLAND  Lala	Ga-Dangbe, Konkomba	Ga, Fante, Fulani	Francis Hlorka	2 – at Lala	[Viekparien?] [festival Parug gpieli?]	Apostles Revelation Divine Healer’s COP
DORBISO ISLAND
Jerusalem	Krachi	Ewe, Fante		?	none	Jesus Resurrection
Yabin	Krachi	Battor, Fantge	Addae	? 0	Nanguri – owner took it to K-Krachi
Kotokoli	Krachi	Ewe, Sena, Konkomba			Kefriripusipusi	AOG: Resurrection Ch:
Adase	Ewe	Krachi, Konkomba	Pastor John Mensah Ziadzi	0	Nsoya
Mantse Kope	Ewe	Ada, Krachi, Kabre, Fante	Simon Kofi Morkli	1 teacher 40 children	Eso	AOG
Chene Kope	Dangbe	Ewe, Fante, Kabre	Pastor J M Ziadzi 0242 882477	0	--	floods destroyed  COP bldg
Bassare	Ada	Ewe, Fante		no teacher      16 pupils	Tigare	COP Divine Healer’s
AGLARKOPE ISLAND
Aglakope	Ga-Dangbe	Ewe, Akan		2 teachers	none	COP Divine Healer’s
Dzatake	Ewe	Ada	Kuku W’m Teye        0246 175704	0	Tsaduma	Divine Healer’s
DORBISO ISLAND
Otisu Kpedzi	Ewe	Krachi, Kabre, Konkomba		1	Motodua	Catholic: COP
Kpordoave	Ada	Ewe		0	Motodua	New Apostolic
Gamorkope	Ada	Akan, Ewe		1 private sch	--	Evangelist Church
Tokpo	Ewe	Ada		sch building     no teachers	--	Divine Healer’s: COP:  New Apostolic
Asutsuare	Ewe	Ningo, Ada		0	Kukrutumi	Divine Healer’s
Dzila Kope	Ewe	Ada, Fante		3 classrooms 3 collapsed	--	COP: Divine Healer’s: Apostles Revelation Soc
Anlo Kope & Kponfri	Ewe		Asst h’man Simon Dzuworrnu Agbesi	1 teacher          6 classes	Ekpelepedzi: Azoo	COP

 

 

SUMMARY OF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ASKED – 2
		Hygiene, Birth		Deaths 2010		Canoes
villages listed in order of visits	CODE	pit lats: all others use bush	untrained TBAs	preg-nant women	ch’n 1-4	paddled canoes	outb’d motor canoes
Jerusalem	J	2 pit lat	1	0	0	?	4
Yabin	Y	Floods destroy’d pit lats	[mothers give birth in K-Krachi]	2	0	25-35	0
Kotokoli	K			0	0	15	0
Adase	Ad		none	0	0	10	0
Mantse Kope	MK	many pit latrines	none	0	0	?	?
Chene Kope	CK	8 pit lats	2	0	1	60	0
Bassare	B	3 pit lats		0	0	41	0
Aglarkope	Ag	10 pit lats	2	0	2	120	?
Dzatake	D		2			50
Otisu Kpedzi	OK		2			30
Kpordoave	Kp	3 pit lats	2			25
Gamorkope	G		1			30	26
Tokpo	T	6 pit lats, many others destroy’d	1			100+
Asutsuare	As	7 pit lats	4			50
Dzila Kope	DK	6 pit	2			50
Anlo Kope              & Kponfri	AK	2 pit	2			60

 

COMMENTS ON DATA IN THE ABOVE TABLES

(The research team were not asked for recommendations but we wish to make the following comments.)

STAFFING  None of the following proposals can be effective unless all young people and adults have been convinced of the need for education and proper hygiene, and that cannot happen unless every village has a properly functioning school with a full staff in place. That, in turn, will require a massive effort by the District Education Service to provide the necessary accommodation, recruit teachers and health workers, and offer in-service training on a greatly increased scale.

      The islands demand staff with unusual dedication and determination. Perhaps church agencies or NGOs can be invited to supplement government provision in order to meet this special situation.

REGISTERS OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS    Every village should keep a register so that births and deaths can be reported as required by law, and, till this happens, keeping a register should be one of the duties of assemblymen. A formal record of canoes is needed to facilitate payment of annual dues.

DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION AND POLICE   In the long term it seems preferable for all the islands to come under one District Assembly.  The division of the islands between three Districts and two Police Divisions may complicate provision of services, collection of tax, and representation of island issues by Assemblymen.

DRINKING WATER   The whole island population gets its drinking water from the lakeside; but since surface water from overflowing pit latrines and from indiscriminate defaecating in the bush tends to flow down to the lakeside after heavy rainfall this is a potential health hazard.  The low reported death rate among infants and pregnant mothers seems reassuring but so long as this situation continues there is real danger of a cholera epidemic. 

Boreholes    District Health Departments of Sene, Krachi West, and Krachi East should consult with NGOs and with commercial providers (for instance Salem Water, Presbyterian Church of Ghana) to determine the number and location of boreholes that will be needed  to meet the needs of the islands population.

Pure water in sachets    Currently pure water is not available for sale in the islands. But while these programmes are being established there will be a need for pure water in sachets to be marketed in all villages. Drinking water from the Lake should be boiled. 

TOILET FACILITIES -- Pit latrines   10 of the 16 villages had one or more pit latrines, but these serve only a very small fraction of the population; the vast majority of island dwellers regularly use the bush and this is a health hazard. 

      The islands’ population, led by their assemblymen, should commit themselves to a long-term programme for construction and regular use of pit latrines meeting the specifications recommended by the Ministry of Health, and located above the level of the 2010 flooding.

  The programme should be designed so that everyone living on the islands has access to a pit latrine by an agreed deadline of not more than three years.

      The work can be done by communal labour under supervision by experienced personnel, and may require co-operation between the relevant District Health authorities and local NGOs. So far as possible the costs should be met by funds raised locale, to encourage a sense of ownership by the community.

      Deuteronomy 23:12-13  Relieving oneself in the bush and leaving excrement on the surface should be recognised as a danger to public health, and should be forbidden by a byelaw. Assemblymen should make the population aware of the dangers.

      The law of Moses some 2000 years before Christ is the minimum we should demand in AD 2011, ie that people relieving themselves in the bush must take with them a hoe or spade, dig a hole, and cover their excrement. We suggest they should cover it with 20cm of earth before they leave the spot.

      Samples of lakeside water should be taken regularly and sent to the laboratory at Kete-Krachi Hospital for checking to determine levels of E-coli and other forms of pollution.

HEALTH    A CHPS “zone” or clinic should be created on Dorbiso, the largest island, as soon as possible; it would cut the time taken for medical emergencies to reach a qualified nurse  from 2 hours to a maximum of 1 hour (from places where canoe with outboard motor was available); and from 4 hours to a maximum of 2 hours (by paddled canoe) – these figures are rough estimates.

      It would also reduce the pressure of minor cases on Kete-Krachi District Hospital. More serious cases requiring attention by a doctor would still have to travel to Kete-Krachi.

      Establishing a CHPS clinic would normally require the communities involved to finance and contribute communal labour to erect a CHPS building, and staff accommodation to the required specifications. It would also require the three District Health Services to provide staff and equipment including fridge for each clinic.  These health and educational improvements would make it more practical for married teachers and medical staff to accept posting to these areas; the present isolation and the lack of educational, medical, and recreational facilities for their children is a major deterrent and the islands population suffers as a result.

CHURCHES     Some churches related to the Christian Council, Pentecostal Council, National Catholic Secretariat, and Ghana Evangelism Committee have congregations on the islands: the COP have seven, the AOG have two. Most other churches are led by untrained leaders, many of whom are unaccountable either to their own congregation or to any wider national authority.

      Ghana’s major churches including members of the Christian Council and Ghana Pentecostal Council should take responsibility for people living on the islands. A strong united Council of Churches with an active leadership and an emphasis on local in-service training might help to raise standards of church ministry and accountability.

OTHER AGENCIES 

      Volta Basin Research Project has a team of researchers in various disciplines, including Benjamin Ofori M Phil, University of Ghana, Legon, who is pursuing doctoral studies on markets based on the Lake shores:     benod_ofori@yahoo.co.uk   bdofor@ug.ed.gh   0208 134292    Box LG 209, Legon

      The Savanna Accelerated Development Authority has a research department headed by Dr Gariba Abdul-Korah who is on a one-year sabbatical from the history department of Saint Rose College, New York, USA:    abdulkog@strose.edu  0543 566 955

COMPLETING THIS STUDY

      This study of some of the islands near Kete-Krachi took 4-5 days and cost some NC649, contributed by Mr Barker on behalf of the Ghana Evangelism Committee (NC460) and Krachi West District (NC189.20), but it is incomplete, as it did not cover farming areas away from the shorelines, or a further six or seven inhabited islands in the same area, some of which are shown on the maps above. The writers hope to carry out a further study covering these areas, which would take up to two weeks and require:

  a grant of NC2,000-NC3,000,

      loan or hire of boat and outboard motor,

      assignment of a medically qualified staff member of District Health Services, &c.

FOUR MAIN NEEDS EXPRESSED BY VILLAGE SPOKESMEN

      Peter and Trinity asked our contacts in each village to name their main concerns and priorities. Over half of the unofficial village spokesmen who answered out questions  named the same four principal requirements:

1) borehole, 2) clinic, 3) school, 4) KVIP.

      Our respondents identified eight other needs: 
 

FELT NEED VILLAGE CODES  NUMBER

borehole J Ko MK B D OK Kp G T As DK AK 12

clinic J Ko CK B D OK Kp T As DK AK 11

school Ko MK CK B Kp G As   7

      school building DK   1

      trained teachers T DK AK   3

KVIP (pit latrine) J CK B OK Kp G T As AK    9

mill (corn)  Ad D OK   3

solar panel T As   2

visit by District CEO  MK   1

credit union Ag   1

DCE visit MK    1

mill (cassava)  Ad   1

outboard motor G    1

tractor Y   1 

END