Wikipedia
Abofour is a town in the Offinso Municipality in Ashanti Region of Ghana. It was founded around the year 1700 by some group of hunters who hunted game for the then Asantehene hence the name 'Abofour' which means 'hunters'. The town has a population of about 25000 with a slight majority(58%);belonging to the Asante ethnic group. The rest of the population are mainly people with Northen descent such as Mande(Wangara), Mossi, Mamprusi, Wala, Dagaare and Dagomba among others. The rest include Kotokoli and Eves. The town is known for the St. Jerome Secondary School. The school is a Catholic-run institution assisted by the government of Ghana. The town also has about twelve public basic schools and about five privately run basic schools.
Abofour has also a market centre which takes place every Thursday in every week. The market is attended by people from all parts of Ghana and even people from neighboring countries of Ghana. The high patronage has made the market one of the largest in Ghana. Some information indicate that the market is the about the fourth largest in Ghana in terms size and patronage. Due to lack of market facilities the market is held along the main Kumasi-Techiman highway which pose certain dangers to the traders and also cause traffic congestion.
To solve this problem the chief of the town and his elders have allocated about 80 acres of land for the building of a permanent market site for the town. The market serves as the major source of revenue to the Offinso Municipal Assembly, but the Assembly is not committded to its development. The new market project begun in the early 90s but nothing significant has been done on the site.
In terms of banking it has one of the vibrant branches of the Otuasekan Rural bank which is one of the best Rural banks in Ghana.
Abofour has a police station with about 10 strong police personnel that serves the town and its environs.
The town is about 45 km and about an hour drive from Kumasi the regional capital. It is located along the main Kumasi-Techiman highway which is a first class road and which links Southern part of the country to its northern parts as well as neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and northern Togo.
The town is drained by the Ode and Opro rivers and their tributaries.
Abofour has one of the largest forest reserves in Ghana namely Afram Head Waters and the Opro forest reserves.
In the area of agriculture it is one of the largest maize producing areas in Ghana. On Thursdays-market day of the town thousands of tonnes of maize are carted to different parts of the country including Kumasi, Takoradi, Cape Coast, Obuasi and Accra among others. Plantain, cassava and yams are also grown in large quantities by farmers in the town.
In terms of energy the town is connected to the national grid which is tapped from the main power line that carries electric power to the northern part of Ghana as well as Burkina Faso.
With regards to water though the town has no pipe borne water, it has a large deposit of underground water reserve that can be tapped for both domestic and industrial use. The absence of pipe borne water in the town is a very sad and unfortunate situation considering its size and strategic role it plays in the politico-socio-economic spheres of the country.
Like every community in Ghana the town traditionally headed by traditional ruler whose title is Nana Abofohene. The Current Abofohene happens to be Nana Ofobiri Ti(II) who is an ex-service man, and a former chief of staff under the N.R.C government of General kutu Acheampong. The next person in command is the Kontihene of the town who is currently Nana Osei Darko. Nana Kofi Agyeman is the Nifahene, Nana Owusu Amponsah is the Akwamuhene, and Nana Osei Asante is the Benkum hene. Traditionally is town is part of the Offinso Traditional area which is traditionally ruled by Offinsomanhene Nana Wiafe akenten(III).
In terms administration, the town has four electoral areas(councils)each headed by an Assembly member. Assembly members are elected through popular elections and they serve for a minimum of one four-year term. The electoral areas in the town include Abofour Junction Electoral Area whose current Assembly member(Councillor) is Hon. Anthony Ohene-Peprah. The immediate past Councillor(Assembly member) is Chema Ali Yakuba also known as Ali Seesi Yakub. The rest are Buasi-Asuboi, Wawase and Dumasua electoral areas.
Some prominent citizens of the town are Mr. S.N Darkwa, former Clerk of Ghana's Parliament, Abdallah Banda, member of parliament for Offinso South Constituency, Barbara Serwaa, deputy minister for lands and forestry and Pfofessor Kwame Panin the Deen of the faculty of social Science at the Central University College. Profeesor Panin is a former lecturer at the Universities of both Botswana and Swaziland. Another notable of the toen is Armand Forster who is currentlythe civil affairs coordinator of the Departmentment for Peace Keeping Operations(UN-DPKOP) of the UN. Stephen Dwamamena also known as Wavwesman is an opinion leader in the town.
The town has a health centre which is located along the main Kumasi-Techiman Highway and it is currently under the care of a medical superintendent. The centre handles emergency cases, maternity care and general outpatients services. Considering the size and the population of the town, a hospital can serve its people better.
The entire leadership of the community therefore seek the assistance of the central government and philanthropist to expand and upgrade the medical facility.
Authored by: Ali Seesi YakuB aka Chema Ali Yakuba Citizen of Abofour and tutor at St. Jerome SHS
The school is a second cycle institution.