- Rebrand & reposition iconic & peerless pan-Africanist as strategic national tourism cash-cow
- Focus on Sekyere-Kumawu District Assembly
Tourism is an outstanding multi-sectoral industry whose strategic harnessing produces valuable roles and benefits in socio-economic transformation as multi-million dollar industry, and its contribution to socio-economic transformation including foreign exchange, multiple job opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labour, poverty alleviation, national wealth redistribution between urban and rural areas, conservation and preservation of national cultural and others are ripple benefits that are derived from strategic tourism development.
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, First President
OSAGYEFO Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, an iconic first generation politician, was a prominent and decorated Pan-Africanist political leader whose political exploits is peerless and timeless.
Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah was a leading light among pioneer nationalists and the famous freedom fighters who laid down their lives for our national independence, as well as the liberation of Africa as whole.
Iconic personality, birthday – USP
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the founding and first President of the Republic of Ghana’s political values and beliefs as his towering Pan-Africanist exploits which were reflected in his dedication, sacrifices and instrumental roles in the African Liberation Struggle, the formation of the erstwhile Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now the African Union Commission (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA), among others resonates with the African-American Diaspora across the world – an outstanding money bag tourism market.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s Birthday, September 21, which is designated as Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, is a remarkable tourism unique selling-point (T-USP), coincidentally falling in the National Tourism Month as count down to the United Nations World Tourism Day (WTD) on September 27 annually. It must be explored to penetrate the African-American Dispora tourism market.
10-yrs down the Line… (1)
Sekyere-Kumawu District Assembly has laid and founded firmer master transformation formula as a competitive model tourism destination & socio-economic hubs
THE national local governance and decentralisation political administration seed which was sown in1988 has grown and borne fruit ,and continues to evolve in both quality and quantity, especially with the high degree of acceptance and participation in the process among the various identified stakeholders and key players.
Sekyere-Kumawu District
Sekyere-Kumawu District (S-KD), one of the 43 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Ashanti Region (A/R), is one Ghana’s current Two Hundred and Sixty-One (261) national Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) national political administrative assemblies as frontline stakeholders and key players in Ghana’s local government and decentralisation practice.
The S-KD Assembly was carved out and created in 2012 with Legislative Instrument (LI) 2171. It has the traditional authority of the Kumawu Traditional Area and Council (KTA&C) as its indigenous traditional authority and identity with Nana Barima Tweneboa Kodua as the president and the Paramount Chief of the Kumawu Traditional Council, with Kumawu as the traditional capital (TC) of the paramountcy, which also serves as the district capital (DC) of the ten (10)-year old district.
DCE
Mr. Samuel Addai Agyekum, an astute, experienced and decorated local government practitioner, expert, consultant and player with many years’ experience, proactive tourism promoter and local economic development (LED) expert and practitioner, is the third and current District Chief Executive of SKD.
Mr. Samuel Addai Agyekum, District Chief Executive, Sekyere-Kumawu – very tourism development proactive and consciously using his good offices to put Sekyere-Kumawu on the national tourism and the nation as a whole on the international tourism stage.
Nana Barima Tweneboa Kodua Waterfalls Resort & DCE factor
The DCE is an outstanding shrewd development proactive leader who has demonstrated this beyond doubt. He led an assembly-wide tourism development initiative with an extensive feasibility studies into the assembly’s tourism potential which returned positive, and informed the initiation of the Nana Barima Tweneboa Kodua Waterfalls Resorts – a modern multi-million dollar tourism project. When completed, it would transform Sekyere-Kumawu into an outstanding cash-cow destination in the country and beyond, as well as dramatically change the area’s socio-economic fortunes. Business and Financial Times tourism desk enquiries has revealed Barima Tweneboa Kodua Waterfalls Resort as an ongoing modern multi-million Sekyere-Kumawu District initiated model project, which has been promoted and championed by the DCE, using the outstanding eco-tourism project as strategic and rapid socio-economic transformation of the area.
The project is is aimed at reengineering the area with modern physical infrastructure, as well as conserve and protect the rare flora and fauna, wildlife and the natural environment. It consists of multi-purpose modern car park, eateries, lavatories, children playgrounds, forest hiking and bird watching trails, zip line and mountain climbing paths, sports and entertainment bars, arts and artifact shops, among others.
Objective
The project’s overall objective, according to the DCE, is to enhance and add value to the Kumawu Waterfalls and the Bomforbiri Butterfly and Wildlife Sanctuaries – two prominent natural resources of the area – to elevate the area as an international and competitive tourism destination.
The project has raised the Sekyere-Kumawu Assembly’s image very high as an outstanding development proactive conscious assembly.
Model destination
Sekyere-Kumawu’s tourism development vision “ is to holistically harness its tourism potential to transform into an outstanding destination model, cash-cow destination and a United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Centre of tourism excellence case study – a determination S-KD will pursue to its logical conclusion”, the DCE emphasised to the B&FT tourism desk in an interview.
Background
The Sekyere-Kumawu District Assembly (SKDA) was established in 2012 by Legislative Instrument (LI) 2171. Kumawu serves as the District Capital (DC) of the Assembly and Mr. Samuel Addai Agyekum is the District Chief Executive for SKDA.
The Assembly is located between Latitudes 0° 20 and 1° 20 North and Longitudes 0° 45 and 1° 15 West. It covers an estimated land area of 1,500.6 square kilometres, which is 6.2 percent of the total land of Ashanti Region. Kumawu, the capital is about 54 kilometres north-east of Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti Region.
The district shares boundaries with Sekyere Central District to the West, Sekyere East District to the North, Asante Akim North District to the South-West, and the Sekyere Afram Plains District to the South. The vision of the assembly is to be the number one tourist destination, and be a pillar of agriculture production in Ghana.
The Kumawu Waterfalls and Resort is located in the Sekyere-Kumawu District, Bomfobiri enclave to be precise. The climate condition in the district conforms to that of the middle belt and Savannah – transitional Zones. Basically, the vegetation consists of Guinea Savannah woodland and moist semi deciduous fire resistant trees.
The vegetation also supports the growth of all types of trees that in the rainforest zones. The Bomfobiri enclave was gazetted in 1975 as a wildlife sanctuary. The Kumawu Waterfalls and Resort houses so many flora and fauna. The most significant ones are the buffaloes, monkeys, bush dogs, and different species of rosewood. The enclave has waterfalls and some streams, where one of it houses some species of crocodiles.
The Writer is Tourism, Brands & Branding, Communication & Marketing Consultant, Practitioner, Analyst, Advocate & Activist
