TOURISM in KETU a General Survey of Attractions PREFACE Tourism Is Now the Country Is Third Largest Foreign Exchange Earner After Gold and Cocoa
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TOURISM IN KETU A General Survey of Attractions PREFACE Tourism is now the country is third largest foreign exchange earner after gold and cocoa. Last year, for example, tourism returns in foreign exchange amount to $265 million. The effective tourism development policies and action plans of the sectorís developers could explain this encouraging picture. In quite a short time, tourism has become one of the progressive and labour intensive economic sectors of the country. It now generates employment opportunities for both skilled and semi-skilled Ghanaians all over the country. For those parts of the country not endowed with natural resources like minerals and timber, tourism, therefore, is the choice rather than the option for economic development. Fortunately, tourism resources, unlike gold or cocoa, are not preserves of a particular geological or geographical area. Every part of the country abounds in some kind of tourism resources that can be educed for economic development. The Ketu District, for instance, the subject of this survey, has the resources and potentials for cultural tourism development. Its natural features of lagoons, beaches, and marshes, for example, can also be developed into tourism attractions. The essential factor then is identifying these resources and formulating the right policies for effective planning and development. The aim of this survey of cultural tourism in the Ketu District, therefore, is to identify some of the resources and potentials for tourism development in the district. In this, an attempt is made to introduce some cultural tourist attractions to tourism development planners, economic policy makers of the district, tour companies, and other private organizations, and traditional authorities involved in tourism development. Some suggestions are also made on strategies for tourism planning and development with the aim of integrating these strategies into the tourism development plan for the Volta Region, which also embraces the Ketu district. It is, however, assumed that, by employing the result of this survey as one of its instrument, the Ketu District Assembly, as a decision-making and executing body, would formulate and adopt its own tourism development plan in line with the peculiar resources and conditions of the district. This could then be accommodated to the capacity of the Integrated Tourism Development Programme of the country. DALE MASSIASTA DIRECTOR, BLAKHUD RESEARCH CENTRE KLIKOR 31ST DECEMBER, 1998 KETU: BACKGROUND Ketu is the major gateway for tourists entering the country from Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Covering the southeastern tip of the Volta Region, Ketu falls within the coastal savanna vegetation zone of the country. The Gulf of Guinea (the Atlantic Ocean) in the south washes a sandy and sparkling 30-km coastline, stretching from Hovi in the west to Aflao on the Ghana -Togo boarder in the east. The southwestern portion of pocket lagoons forms part of the designated Ramsar sites - resting and feeding grounds of over seventy species of migratory and resident birds, marine turtle, and other reptiles. Indeed, the Keta lagoon covers a portion of this area also noted for salt, tilapia, and crabs. This influence of the sea and lagoon affects the overall weather conditions of the district. Ketu is generally flat. PEOPLE AND HISTORY The Ewe live in Ketu and the other southern districts of the Volta region. A historian has once described them as ì one of those African tribes which are outstanding in physique and intelligence.î * In fact, the name Ketu, which this administrative district of Ghana has adopted, would suitably apply to the Ewe of Ghana and Togo, and the Adza-Ewe of Benin. Before migrating form Notse (in Togo) in the 15th century and dispersing in Ghana and Togo, the Ewe had been settled in Ketu in Benin (Dahome). The name Ketu is, therefore, a reminiscence of a historical home abandoned hundreds of years ago. TOWNS AND VILLAGES Ketu could be described as rustic. However, there is a sprawling splash of towns and villages along the coast and border with Togo in the east. The towns in which the majority of the population live include Aflao, Denu, (the capital), Klikor, Agbozume, Dzodze, and Penyi. Others are Afife and Wheta on the fringe of the lagoon areas like Klikor and Agbozume. Ehi and Tadzewu in central and western Ketu are some of the growing farming settlements. The population of Ketu is nearly a quarter million people. It is the most densely populated district of the Volta Region of Ghana. Some of the towns like Dzodze, Agbozume, Klikor, Aflao, Afife, Penyi, and Wheta have electricity supply, postal systems, and some form of good-drinking water supply systems. Aflao and Denu in particular have both internal and external telecommunication facilities. Most of these towns in Ketu are linked by tarred roads that also link village settlements to these towns. OCCUPATION OF THE PEOPLE The village settlements in the interior are the main farming areas in Ketu. These produce maize, cassava, rice, tomatoes, okra, and pepper. The village settlements around Wheta and Afife, for instance, are one of the major rice-producing areas in the country. The coastal areas, apart from fishing, coconut and salt production, also engage in small-scale vegetable cultivation. Most of the produce from the fishing and farming areas feed the main market centres at Aflao, Dzodze, Agbozume, Denu, Wheta, and Wudoaba. The people of Ketu are also traders, tradesmen, office workers, herbal medicine practitioners and craftsmen. There is indeed a brisk commercial activity across the border with Togo. This is dominated by women who also process food. Handicrafts produced by both women and men are of great economic value to the people. CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE The culture of the people of Ketu is influenced by their migration and contact with other people. Various European countries, through trading links, colonization or evangelization, have implanted some element of their culture in the people. This is evident in their speech, dressing, food, behaviour, work, and religion. Christianity in particular was introduced into the district in the 19th century largely through the missionary work of the Germans. This facilitated the opening of formal schools in Adina, Denu, Blekusu, Aflao, Agbozume, Dzodze, Afife, and in so many other places. The christian-orientated schools are the modifying factor in changing the social habits, customs, beliefs, and general thinking of the people. However traditional cultural institutions and their belief systems exist side by side those established by colonization. The institution of traditional rulers is strong and this wields much political control. On the other hand, indigenous communities still maintain their traditional belief systems and practices. These could be identified with sects like those of Afa, Xebieso (Yewe), Da, Agbosu, Axolu, Adzima, Nyigbla, Bate, Ablo, Adela, Agodovodu (Brekete, Kunde, Atigari) and Nana. The people of Ketu, like other Ghanaians, have their visions of providing for the common welfare and permanently overcoming want. In general, Ketu presents a vibrant society of youthful struggle and expectation. The people are hospitable and sociable. Should a tourist or a visitor be denied anything in Ketu, he could not be denied this social norm. *F.J. Pedler, West Africa, Methuen & Co Ltd, p. 170 CULTURAL TOURISM IN KETU INTRODUCTION As it could be seen, cultural tourism attractions in the Ketu district should necessarily include some of the important elements of our traditional culture. In this survey, therefore, the emphasis on traditional religious institutions and their belief systems of rituals, music and dance forms, costumes, relics and festivals is explained by their role in the development of tourism in the district. Besides the performing and visual arts, which also mark out Ketu for cultural tourism, it is this asset of numerous traditional institutions and their practices that makes the district one of the prospective tourist destinations in the country. Of equal importance are the historical monuments of slave routes and slave markets in the district. Already a cultural tourism project, the SLAVE ROUTE PROJECT, has been initiated by the WTO (WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION), UNESCO and Ghana among other African countries. This project aims at developing cultural tourism on the slave trade sites and routes with reference to the TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE. The history of slavery in the Ketu district is unique and relevant for its SLAVE MARKETS and ROUTES to be incorporated into this international project. In the survey, we would discuss some historical features of these slave markets and routes. This aspect of slave history brings to the mind the religious and historical monuments of SLAVE STOOL TEMPLES and their relics, which would also be discussed in this survey. These temples, found in every part of the district, could suitably be designated as MUSEUMS OF SLAVE HISTORY, apart from their being sacred monuments in memory of the slaver and slave. Their discussion would also lead us to the phenomenon of the transmission of the KRACHI DENTE religion through the slave trade. In this survey, we would also look at those features of the many other social functions like funerals, picnics and family gatherings that give the tourist the opportunity to make contacts with the local people. To begin with, let us consider the attractions of some important traditional religious institutions in the district. A. TROXOVI SHRINES The following TROXOVI SHRINES in Ketu are mentioned as tourist attractions in the DRAFT FINAL REPORT on the TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE VOLTA REGION:1 THE ADZIMA SHRINE AT KLIKOR THE NYIGBLA SHRINE AT AFIFE THE YEWE (TOHONO) SHRINES at NOGOKPO, DZODZE, KLIKOR and other places. After the 1-DAY TECHNICAL SEMINAR held at Ho on 19th December 1996, which discussed the DRAFT FINAL REPORT, the BLAKHUD RESEARCH CENTRE proposed to the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) the inclusion of FESTIVALS associated with the ADZIMA and YEWE shrines in the list of festivals mentioned in the REPORT.2 On the other hand, the ADZIMA and NYIGBLA shrines in particular are located on the TOURISM MAP OF GHANA.