Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital.[3][4] It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-ethnic [5] and multilingual, including groups such as the Ewe, the Guan, and the Akan peoples. The Guan peoples include the Lolobi, Likpe, Akpafu, Buem, and Nkonya (now part of Oti region) people.[citation needed] This region was carved out of the Volta Region in December 2018 by the New Patriotic Party. The people of the Volta Region are popularly known as Ewes.[citation needed] The people of the Volta Region are popular known for their rich cultural display and music some of which include Agbadza, Borborbor and Zigi.[citation needed]
The native and largest ethnic group of the Volta Region (Togoland / British Togoland) are the Ewe people (68.5% of the population). They consist of several sub groups such as the Anlo Ewe, Tongu Ewe, Wedome Ewe, Ave Ewe and Avenor Ewe. Other ethnicities include the Guan people (forming 9.2% of the population), the Akan people (8.5%), and the Gurma people (6.5% of the population).[7]
Administration
The Volta region is run by a Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and a District Assembly. The RCC is made up of the Volta Regional Minister who is the political head and his deputy as well as representatives of the Regional House of Chiefs, the District Chief Executives of the Volta region, the Presiding Members of the 12 Districts Assemblies and representatives of the various decentralized Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the Volta region. Each district is run by a District Assembly.[8]
The current Regional Minister, Archibald Letsa was appointed in February 2017.[9]
Administrative divisions
Before the regional demarcation in December 2018,[10] the region had 25 MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 5 Municipal and 20 Ordinary Assemblies) with all the administrative changes as of December 2012.[11] After the census, the Oti Region was carved out of it, reducing the size of the region and the number of administrative districts to 18.
The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into 18 MMDA's (made up of 0 Metropolitan, 6 Municipal and 12 Ordinary Assemblies). Each District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, is administered by a Chief Executive, representing the central government but deriving authority from an Assembly headed by a presiding member elected from among the members themselves. The current list is as follows:
The Volta Regional Hospital is located at Ho. It is popularly referred to as Trafalgar. The inception of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Ho has led to it being redesignated as the Ho Teaching Hospital in 2019.[33][34] Other government run health facilities in the capital are the Ho Municipal Hospital and the Ho Polyclinic. Hospitals in the region include:
The Togoland Congress (TCP) was a political party formed in 1951 to campaign for the unification of the Ewe people in British Togoland and French Togoland as a separate Ewe state. The party was defeated in the May 1956 UN plebiscite in British Togoland, which resulted in the unification of British Trans-Volta Togoland with Gold Coast, which later became independent as Ghana.[35][36][37]
Recently, a campaign for the cessation of some part of the Volta Region from Ghana to be known as "Western Togoland" is being led by a group calling itself Homeland Study Group Foundation. The group is led by Charles Kormi Kudzodzi.[42][43][44][45][46][47][48]
^McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "The Politics of the Independence Movements".
^Brown, David (1980). "Borderline Politics in Ghana: the National Liberation Movement of Western Togoland". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 18 (4): 575–609. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00014750. ISSN1469-7777. S2CID155025887.
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