Savannah Region


The Savannah Region is one of the newest regions of Ghana and the largest region in the country. The creation of the Region follows presentation of a petition by the Gonja Traditional Council, led by the Yagbongwura Tumtumba Boresa Jakpa I. Upon receiving favourable responses from all stakeholders in the Northern Region, the Brobbey Commission, a referendum was conducted on the 27th December 2018. The result was a resounding yes of 99.7%. The President of the Republic of Ghana signed and presented the Constitutional Instrument 115 to the Yagbonwura in the Jubilee House, Accra on 12 February 2019. The launch was well attended by sons and daughters of Gonjaland including all current and past Mps, MDCEs and all appointees with Gonjaland descent. Damongo was declared the capital of the new Savannah Region. It is located in the north of the country. The Savannah Region is divided into 7 districts; Bole, Central Gonja, North Gonja, East Gonja, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, West Gonja, North East Gonja and 7 Constituencies; Bole/Bamboi, Damongo, Daboya/Mankarigu, Salaga North, Salaga South, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba and Yapei/Kusawgu. The capital of Bole district is Bole; East Gonja municipal is Salaga; West Gonja district is Damango; Sawla Tuna Kalba district is Salwa; Central Gonja is Buipe; North Gonja is Daboya; and North East Gonja is Kpalbe

History

Prior to the 2016 Ghanaian general election, the then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo declared that when elected, he would explore the possibility of creating new regions out of some of the existing regions in Ghana in order to bring government closer to citizens.
The execution of plans for the creation of the regions was seeded to the newly created Ministry of Regional Reorganization and Development which is under the leadership of Hon. Dan Botwe. Government of Ghana ministry charged with the responsibility of supervising the creation of new regions in Ghana. In March 2017, the ministry sent the blue print for the creation of the region along with others to the Council of State. The council met over 36 times from the time of submission to August 2017.
The final stage for the creation of the region will be decided through a referendum by the people within the catchment of the new region.
A referendum on 27 December 2018 approved the creation of Savannah Region, with 206,350 votes in favour on a turnout of 81.77%. CI 115 establishing the Region signed and presented on 12 February 2019.

Geography and climate

Location and size

The Savannah Region is bordered on the north by the Upper West region, on the west by the Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire international border, on the south by the Bono and Bono East regions, and on the west by the North East and Northern regions. Savannah region is made up of 7 districts.

Health facilities

The Savannah Region is much drier than southern areas of Ghana, due to its proximity to the Sahel, and the Sahara. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially savanna with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or acacias. Between December and April is the dry season. The wet season is between about July and November with an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm. The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season, the lowest in December and January. However, the hot Harmattan wind from the Sahara blows frequently between December and the beginning of February. The temperatures can vary between 14 °C at night and 40 °C during the day.

Tourism & Parks

  • Mole National Park
  • Salaga slave market and wells
  • Bui National Park
  • Larabanga Historic Mosque
  • Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

    Business and Investment

It is one of the main grain and tuber producing areas in Ghana. Harnessing these particularly will help to create employment and reduce poverty. The Region has about 2.69 million hectares of land under cropping and livestock rearing.
It has unique climatic and soil characteristic making the area ideal for growing of pineapples, yams cassava and maize.

Demographics

The Savannah Region has a low population density, and along with the official language of English, most inhabitants speak a language of the Oti–Volta subfamily in the Niger–Congo language family, such as Gonja, Vagla, Dagbani, Mamprusi and Tampulma.

Economy

Religion

A majority of residents in the Savanna Region identify as Muslim.

Educational institutions

The political administration of the region is through the local government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into seven MMDA's. 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:
#MMDA NameCapitalMMDA Type
1BoleBoleOrdinary
2Central GonjaBuipeOrdinary
3North GonjaDaboyaOrdinary
4East GonjaSalagaMunicipal
5North East GonjaKpalbeOrdinary
6Sawla-Tuna-KalbaSawlaOrdinary
7West GonjaDamongoMunicipal

Famous citizens