Profile

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PROFILE OF DORMAA CENTRAL MUNICIPALITY
1.1 Physical Characteristics and Natural Environment
In general, the physical environment in which people find themselves to a large extent determines and affects the socio-economic conditions of those who dwell in it. This section aims at describing the location and size, topography and drainage, climate and vegetation, geology and soils and natural resources of the Dormaa Central Municipality as well as their implications for its development.
1.1.1 Location and Size
Dormaa Central Municipal is one of the 12 administrative districts in the Bono Region of Ghana. It is one of the oldest districts in the then Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. As the population increased with associated development and expansion in basic infrastructure, the district attained the status of a Municipality and later “gave birth’ to two other districts, the Dormaa East and Dormaa West districts. The Assembly was upgraded into Municipality status by the Legislative Instrument (L.I 2087).
Located at the western part of the region, the Dormaa Central Municipal has Dormaa Ahenkro its capital. It lies within longitudes 3o West and 3o 30’ West and latitudes 7o North and 7o 30’ North. It is bounded in the north by the Jaman South District, in the East by the Dormaa East, Dormaa West in the South-West and La Cote D’Ivoire in the West. The Municipal capital is Dormaa Ahenkro, located about 85 kilometres west of the Regional Capital, Sunyani.
The municipality has a total land area of 1,194.4 square kilometres, which is about 10.74 percent of the total land area of Bono Region and about 0.17 percent of that of the country. It has 83 communities/settlements, one traditional authority and one constituency, namely; Dormaa Central.
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Figure 1: Maps Showing Dormaa Municipality in the Regional and District Dontext
Source: DCMA MPCU, 2025
1.1.2 Relief and Drainage
The topography is generally undulating and rises between 180 metres and 375 metres above sea level. The high range can be found near Asunsu in the north-western part of the municipality most of which is occupied by the Pamu-Berekum Forest Reserve. The highest point is a little over 375 metres above sea level. The medium range rises gradually between 240 metres and 300 metres above sea level. Some of the towns found on this range are Dormaa Ahenkro, Gonokrom and Nsuhia.
The drainage pattern of Dormaa Central municipality is basically dendritic and flows in the north-south direction. Most of the rivers have catchments areas within the municipality around the high range near Asunsu with only a few taking their sources from the Jaman South Municipal and Dormaa East District. The area is well drained as evidenced by the dense network of rivers and streams spread out in the municipality. The rivers are mostly perennial due to the double maxima rainfall experienced in the area. Notable among the rivers are the Bia and Pamu rivers.
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1.1.3 Climate and Vegetation
Municipality is located within the wet semi-equatorial climate region with a double maxima rainfall regime. The mean annual rainfall is between 125cm and 175cm. The first rainy season starts from May to June; with the heaviest rainfall occurring in June while the second rainy season is from September to October.
The dry seasons are quite pronounced with the main season beginning around the latter part of November and ending in February. It is often accompanied by relative humidity of 75 – 80 percent during the two rainy seasons and 30 – 40 percent during the rest of the year.
The highest mean temperature of the municipality is about 30ºC. This occurs between March and April and the lowest about 26.1ºC in August.
The major vegetation types are the Semi-Equatorial forest, semi-deciduos forest and high grassland. There is a vast stretch of cultivable unused forestland and extensive forest reserves. The unused forest is located at the extreme north-east where it extends to Dormaa East District and Ahafo region. The forest reserves are Pamu-Berekum (116.80 square kilometres) and Tain II (297.6 square kilometres). The Pamu-Berekum is located at the Northwest and Tain II in the west of the municipality extending to Ahafo Region. The major types of flora found in these forests range from shrubs and climbers to giant silk cotton trees. Timber species including Wawa (Tripolichiton Scleroxylon), Odum (Milicia excelsa), Sapele (Guthagrophrama) and Mahogany (Khaya invernesses) are found here.
The broken forest is located at the extreme south-west, where it extends to the Bia District and La Cote D’Ivoire. It is characterised by forest interspersed with grassland. The major plant types include elephant grass, shrubs and a few scattered trees with heights ranging between 15m and 28m high. The forest has been extensively cultivated leading to an invasion of grassland vegetation. The extensively cultivable forest occupies the north, central, western and southern part of the municipality. The vegetation is dominated by elephant grass and a few short trees scattered all over the area. As a result of the farming, hunting and illegal felling of trees activities in the municipality, these vegetation types are threatened and the forests for instance, keep on changing to grassland.
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1.1.4 Geology and Soils
The rocks underlying the municipality’s soils are of the Birimian formation which covers more than three quarters of the closed forest zone. Economically, it is the most important geological formation in Ghana since it contains some of the minerals exported from the country such as gold. Associated with the Birimian formation are extensive masses of, granite which occur in parallel belts. Soils in the municipality belong to the Bekwai-Nzema Compound Associations. These soil types tend to support both industrial and food crops, which include cocoa, coffee, oil palm, citrus, cola-nuts, plantain, cassava and maize.
Figure 2: Soil Map of Dormaa Central Municipality
1.1.5 Plants and Animal Life
The Municipality lies within the semi-deciduous agro-ecological zone of Ghana and belongs to the Celtis-Triplochton as classified by Taylor. The area is very much degraded due to agricultural and logging activities. A total of 302 species comprising tree species, shrubs, herbs, grasses and climbers were identified within the area. No species of high forest conservation concern were recorded within or without the forest reserve areas.
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1.2.1 Demographic Characteristics Analysis
Population dynamics significantly affect the Municipal and national social-economic development. Changes in population size, growth rate, population density, household characteristics, religious compositions, age, sex composition, occupation distribution, rural-urban split and dependency ratio all influence labour demand and supply, food security, resources availability and allocation for social and basic services infrastructure. These dynamics are analysed as follows. The Municipal’s population in terms of its numbers, age structure and sex distribution reflect on indicators such as growth rate, labour force and dependency ratio. Changes in any population are brought about through dynamics of fertility, mortality and migration.
1.2.2 Population Size and Growth Rate
According to 2021 PHC the population of the Dormaa Central Municipality was 112,702 of which male constitutes 55,108 (48.9%) and female constitutes 57,594 (51.1%) with an annual growth rate of 2.8%. Currently, the total estimated population of the Municipality is 125,276 which is made up of 61,260 males and 64,016 females. The population of the Municipal has a typical broad-base and a relatively narrow apex. The broad-base of the pyramid indicates that the population of the municipality has a built-in potential for growth. The pyramid shows an abrupt decline, more pronounced for males from age group 20-24 years. The tapering of the pyramid into a conical shape shows the force of mortality as the population ages. The population is therefore more youthful in nature and has the potential of increasing the productive work force with time. This also implies that greater provision of social amenities such as school infrastructure, health facilities, potable water and recreational centres to cater for the growth population. With proper planning and prudent use of resources available, the growing population should be considered as blessing than a challenge. Dormma Central Municipality has a land surface size of 1,194.4Km2 and a current population size of 125,276. The population density therefore is 104.92 persons per square kilometres.
Six (6) communities out of the eighty-three (83) were found to be urban in the Dormaa Central Municipality. The remaining settlements (77) are considered rural. This implies that urban areas take 39.86% (49,935 Projected) whereas rural areas take about 60.14% (75,341 Projected) of the total population in the Dormaa Central Municipality. The table below shows population projections from 2025 to 2029.
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Table 1: Population Projections (2025-2029) 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
125,276
128,026
131,099
134,185
137,279
Source: Source: MPCU Projections based on 2021 PHC
1.2.3 Ethnicity
The Bonos dominate all other ethnic groups in the Municipality constituting about 96 percent. Anyins are a little over two percent (2.4%), Northerners one per cent and others, less than one per cent (0.6). The major language spoken is Bono-Twi.
1.2.4 Religious Composition of Dormaa Central Municipality
In terms of religious faith and affiliation, Christian religion has the largest proportion of followers (84.3%) and is followed by Islam (10.9%). Those who do not associate with any religion constitute about seven percent (6.5%) percent of the population. There are more males (6.5%) than females (2.5%) with no religion. Pentecostal and Charismatic followers have the largest followers with more females than males.
1.2.5 Age Groups/ Cohorts and Sex Composition
For the purpose of this plan, the population is divided into the following ten groups. The age groups were determined by the collection method of the Ghana Statistical Service and grouped by similar themes. The Municipality has a high population of children, as shown in the table 5 below the population between the ages of 0-14 years was 30,093 males and 29,121 females (estimated) which represented over 38% of the total population.
The population between 65-99 years was 3,252 males and 5,232 females translating to 5.38% of the entire population. This implies a higher dependency of children between 0-14 years than elderly population between 65-99 years. The Municipality should take note of this because it means that there are more people to feed, more schools to build and pressure to create more employment opportunities. This further implies greater strain on the working age to support their economic dependents (children and aged) and this does not bode well for improved social security and enhanced economic growth.
As indicated in the table, there were 10,435 males and 10,011 females in the age cohort of 0-4 years, and 6,817 males and 7,871 females in the age cohort of 20-24 years. This implies that
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transition from infant to teenage is higher for males than females and thus there is higher mortality for females than males in the Municipality. This also means that the Municipality’s health authorities should focus on the causes of infant mortality to ensure that female children transition to teenage is improved.
The table below provides information on the Municipality’s population projections by gender and age cohorts with 2025 as the base year. The figures are given at intervals for ease of analysis and planning.
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Table 2: Population Projections by Sex and Age Cohort
Age Group 2025 (Baseline) 2026 2027 2028 2029 Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
0-4
20,446
10,435
10,011
20957
10696
10261
21481
10963
10518
22018
11237
10781
22569
11518
11050
5-9
19,453
9,920
9,533
19939
10168
9771
20438
10422
10016
20949
10683
10266
21472
10950
10523
10-14
19,315
9,738
9,577
19798
9981
9816
20293
10231
10062
20800
10487
10313
21320
10749
10571
15-19
17,075
8,535
8,540
17502
8748
8754
17939
8967
8972
18388
9191
9197
18848
9421
9427
20-24
14,688
6,817
7,871
15055
6987
8068
15432
7162
8269
15817
7341
8476
16213
7525
8688
25-29
12,838
5,716
7,122
13159
5859
7300
13488
5005
7483
13825
6156
7670
14171
6309
7861
30-34
10,072
4,703
5369
10324
4821
5503
10582
4941
5641
10846
5065
5782
11118
5191
5926
35-39
8,900
4,003
4,897
9123
4103
5019
9351
4206
5145
9584
4311
5274
9824
4419
5405
40-44
7,498
3,530
3,967
7685
3618
4066
7878
3709
4168
8075
3801
4272
8276
3896
4379
45-49
6,364
2,869
3,495
6523
2941
3582
6686
3014
3672
6853
3090
3764
7025
3167
3858
50-54
5,861
2,705
3,156
6008
2773
3235
6158
2842
3316
6312
2913
3399
6469
2986
3484
55-59
3,731
1,752
1,979
3,824
1796
2028
3920
1841
2079
4018
1887
2131
4118
1934
2184
60-64
2956
1397
1560
3030
1432
1599
3106
1468
1639
3183
1504
1680
3263
1542
1722
65-69
1654
727
927
1695
745
950
1738
764
974
1781
783
998
1826
802
1023
70-74
2864
1046
1817
2936
1072
1862
3009
1099
1909
3084
1126
1957
3161
1155
2006
75-79
1699
657
1042
1741
673
1068
1785
690
1095
1830
708
1122
1875
725
1150
80-84
1174
451
723
1203
462
741
1233
474
760
1264
486
779
1296
498
798
85-89
503
179
325
516
183
333
528
188
341
542
193
350
555
198
359
90-94
437
139
298
448
142
305
459
146
313
471
150
321
482
153
329
9
95-99
151
52
100
155
53
103
159
55
105
163
56
108
167
57
110
Total
157682
75372
82310
161624
77256
84368
165665
79188
86477
169806
81167
88639
174051
83197
90855
Source: Projected by MPCU, DCMA, 2025
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The table below provides the population projections of selected age groups of under 5, primary school going age (5-14 years), senior high school age group (15-19 years), the youth (15-29 years), the reproductive age (15-49) for females, the labour force (15-64 years) and the aged population (65 years and above). These groups have been identified for analysis because of their critical role in the socio-economic development of the Municipality. Population distribution by special age groups is vital for planning purposes.
It helps to put in place long-term strategies aimed at addressing age specific needs and issues. Similarly, it offers policy makers with the necessary information to analyze and interpret the causes of various dynamics that result in population structure changes and arising challenges.
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Table 3: Population Projections for Selected Age Groups
Age 2025 (Baseline) 2026 2027 2028 2029
Group Total Male Female
Total
Male
Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Total
Male
Female
Under 5 20446 10435 10011
20957
10696
10261 21481 10963 10518 22018 11237 10781
22569
11518
11050
(0-4)
Primary School 38768 19658 19110
39737
20149
19588 40731 20653 20077 41749 21170 20579
42793
21699
21094
(5-14)
Senior High School 17,075 8535 8540
17502
8748
8754 17939 8967 8972 18388 9191 9197
18848
9421
9427
(15-19)
Youth Population 44601 21068 23533
45716
21595
24121 46859 22135 24724 48030 22688 25342
49231
23255
25976
(15-29)
Reproduction Age 77435 36173 41261
79371
37077
42293 81355 38004 43350 83389 38954 44434
85474
39928
45544
(15-49)
Labour Force 89983 42027 47956
92233
43078
49155 94538 44155 50384 96902 45258 51643
99324
46390
52934
(15-64)
Aged Population 8482 3251 5232
8694
3332
5363 8911 3416 5497 9134 3501 5634
9363
3588
5775
(65+)
Source: Projected Population, MPCU, DCMA, 2025
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i. Age Group Under 5: This comprises 20,446 children in 2025 (estimated), which has been projected to increase to 22,569 in the year 2029. As this population includes the pre-school age, it is necessary to build more Day Care Centres and pre-primary schools for the younger generation. This population group is also vulnerable to diseases and therefore immunization programmes should be stepped up for them. The Municipal Assembly should design initiatives and programmes to cater for this age cohort and aim to improve their welfare significantly in order to reduce the rate of mortality and address welfare issues affecting them.
ii. Basic School Age Group (5-14 Years): The estimated population of primary school going age was 38,768 in the year 2025 and projected to increase to 42,793 by the year 2029. This growth is expected to maintain the pressure on primary school facilities and the teacher pupil ratio at primary school level is not expected to change significantly. There is need to provide the necessary facilities such as classrooms, furniture, learning and teaching materials and recruitment of teachers to cater for the needs of this group. The Municipal Assembly should continue to own and monitor the School Feeding Programme to promote intake of essential nutrients. In addition, School Health Programmes should be stepped up in order to reduce school dropout due to health-related issues.
iii. Senior High School Age Group (15-19 Years): The population of the Senior High School age group was 17,075 in 2025 and is expected to increase to 18,848 by the end of 2029.This implies that the transition rate from primary to senior high is low. The Municipal Assembly should develop strategies to improve on the transition rate by expanding the necessary facilities, such as classrooms, boarding facilities, learning materials, recruitment of teachers, as well as improving the existing ones, to cater for the needs of this age group and attain high quality education.
iv. Female Reproductive Age (15-49 Years): This cohort represents the reproductive age for women. The age group accounted for 77,435 of the total population in the Municipality in 2025 with an expected increase to 85,474 in 2029. This age group is the single most important determining factor of population growth, hence one of the main interventions by the health sector will be to improve both child and maternal health. This anticipated increase will require enhanced interventions in terms of maternal care services. Family planning programmes should be stepped up to increase choice on the number of children women want to give birth to. A programme should also be initiated to encourage girls to continue with education post primary school so as to reduce on early pregnancy and marriages.
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v. Youth (15-30 Years): This age group population stood at 44,601 in 2025 and is projected to increase to 49,231in 2025. This youth age bracket represents 36.4% of the population. Over the last few years, the government and other development partners have initiated projects geared towards empowering the youth economically. For these initiatives to succeed, it is prudent to analyze the age dynamics of this age group and how its growth rate will affect the focus and success of projects.
vi. Labour Force Age Group (15-64 Years): The Municipality’s labour force stood at 89,983 people, which was 57% of the total population, and was projected to be 99,324 by 2029. Women constitute 51.1% of the total population in the group and males constitute the remaining 48.9%. This is economically active age group whose increase will require a commensurate increase in creation of job opportunities. High unemployment levels among the youth and rural-urban migration are some of the associated challenges of this cohort. The Municipal Assembly should foster an environment for skills development and employment creation to reduce levels of unemployment and to make it more productive.
vii. Aged Population (65+): In 2025, this age cohort had 8,482(estimated) people of which 3,251 were males and 5,232 were females. This population was projected to be 9,363 in 2029 (comprising 3,588 males and 5,775 females). This cohort is largely dependent on the working labour force since they are uneconomically productive and therefore if not supported adequately, can exert a heavy economic burden on the Municipality. Specific interventions such as cash transfer funds and social protection programmes such as LEAP should be intensified.
1.2.6 Rural-Urban Split
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, 39.86% (44,933) of the Municipality’s populace live in urban areas whiles 60.14% (67,769) live in rural areas. The Municipality is predominantly rural in nature. The current estimated population of the Municipality is 125,276 of which 49,935 population is estimated to be living in urban areas whiles 75,341 population is estimated to be living in rural areas and this is expected to decline due to rural-urban migration. To minimize migration to urban areas of the Municipality, the Municipal Assembly should strengthen economies of rural areas, provide better quality life, maintain distinctive character of rural areas and build on local assets.
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1.2.7 Labour Force
According to the estimated or projected population, the Municipality has a labour force of 89,983 which is 71.83% of the total population. Out of this figure, 42,027 are males while 47,956 are females. This indicates the need for mainstreaming of women in the development programmes and projects in the Municipality. This is the economically active age group whose increase will require a commensurate increase in creation of job opportunities. In order to absorb the increasing labour force, investment in diverse sectors such as modern agriculture, agribusiness and eco-tourosm are required.
1.2.8 Households
In addition to population estimates, household projections form the basis of Municipal service delivery planning and essentially inform budget allocation towards basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal. It is therefore vital that for planning, budget and implementation purposesa Municipality rely on credible and accurate household estimates.
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the total number of households in the Municipality was estimated to be 30,496 households. The Municipality has a household population of 110,150, out of which 42,720 are located in urban areas whiles 67,430 are located in rural areas.
1.2.9 Average Household Size
The Municipality has an average household size of 3.6 persons household which is less than the regional average of 3.7 persons per household. The extended family system accounts for the large household size in the municipality.
1.2.10 Population Density
Population density calculates the number of persons per square kilometer which is equal to the total population divided by land area. The rural nature of the Municipality is reflected by the population density of 94.4 persons per square kilometer which is lower than regional population density of 108.8 persons per square kilometer.
Population patterns and distribution in the Municipality are largely influenced by landholding and ownership, availability and accessibility of water, climatic conditions and fertility of soils. The current trend of the Municipality is that most people tend to concentrate on areas where agriculture is possible. Other settlements are concentrated near Dormaa Ahenkro township due to availability
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of reliable social amenities and employment opportunities. This indicator explains why there is immense pressure on existing facilities in the Municipality and vigorous expansion of facilities is needed if the Municipality is to curtail this challenge.
1.3.1 The Municipal Economy /Local Economy
The overall development of a country is based on the production of goods and services. The Dormaa Central Municipal is well endowed with natural resources particularly tourists’ attraction sites, mineral deposits, forest and timber species, rich soil and good climatic conditions. The economy of Dormaa Central Municipality can be divided into three main economic sectors. These are Agriculture, Service/Commercial and Manufacturing/Industry.
1.3.2 Agriculture
The mainstay of the municipality’s economy is agriculture. Currently, the sector employs about 51.2% of the economically active labour force of the municipality. Farming is largely carried out on small-scale basis. At the moment the poultry industry specifically, eggs production is operating on large scales. Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and grass cutters are also reared.
Farmers in the municipality are predominantly peasant farmers cultivating food crops and few cash crops. The food crops include yam, maize, cassava, cocoyam, plantain, rice, and vegetables such as tomatoes, garden eggs, onion, okro, cabbages and lettuces. The cash crops are cashew and cocoa. The major livestock reared in the municipality are cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. Poultry production in the municipality is the largest in the Bono region of Ghana.
The agriculture sector contributes to greatly of the livelihoods of the population in the Municipality. Previous government has introduced some major policy interventions to boost the agriculture sector. Some of these major interventions included Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) and the District Center for Agriculture, Commerce and Technology (DCACT). Despite these efforts to promote the sector, production still remains at subsistence level, as there are no large plantation holdings in the municipality. About half of the total cultivable land areas of the municipality is currently used for agricultural activities as indicated in the table below.
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Table 4: Agricultural Land
Total Land Area
35,568 hectares
Total cultivable land area
19,225 hectares
Source: DCMA, MPCU, 2025
1.3.3 Livestock and Poultry Production
At the moment the poultry Industry specifically table egg production is operating at a large-scale level. Poultry production in the municipality is the largest in the region. The poultry sector also employs a high proportion of the labour force in the municipality. Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs and are also reared. Animals produced in the Municipality and their numbers are also contained in the table below.
Table 5: Livestock Production in the Municipality No. Livestock Years 2024 2025
1.
Goat
6,482
7,264
2.
Sheep
4,075
5,008
3.
Cattle
1,086
1,408
4.
Poultry (Exotic)
5,486,284
6,198,462
5.
Pig
1,282
1,572
Source: MOFA/DCMA, 2025
Major challenge of the industry is finding enough market outlets for the products and credit facilities to expand the farms to employ more people. The outbreak of some diseases such as the swam-flu was one of the major setbacks in the poultry industry over some periods.
1.3.4 Agro Processing
Over the years efforts have been made by individuals, groups and the Municipal Assembly to add value to farm produce through processing. Agro-processing is currently on a small-scale. The Municipality has some agro-processing plants located in various communities such as gari production at Kofiasua (it produces below capacity) and production of Akpeteshie in several communities across the Municipality.
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1.3.5 Agricultural Land Acquisition
Ownership of land in the Municipality is vested in the stool and held in trust and on behalf of the people.
For agricultural purposes, it can easily be accessed by both natives and non-natives. This is a great potential for agricultural development. In line with local customs and traditions, non-natives in need of land for agricultural purposes are required to approach a chief or the appropriate landlord/lady with drinks and /or specified amount of money for a parcel of land. The lease period ranges between few months food crops and several years for cash crops.
A myriad of challenges contribute to the low productivity of agriculture in the municipality. These can best be addressed in the areas of low access to market and low price of farm produce. Major capacities need to be provided in support areas such as irrigation, fertilizer and agrochemicals, storage and rural infrastructure such as roads, energy, markets and institutions to ensure that sector takes its meaningful position within the local economy.
1.3.6 Commerce/Service Sector
This sector covers a wide range of activities such as wholesaling, retailing, petty trading, radio and television repairs, hairdressing, tailoring, beauty care, vulcanizing and the transport sector. Other informal service activities are bread baking, kenkey production, food and phone credit vendors among others. One area of the service sector which is recently gaining much recognition in terms of job creation and revenue mobilization is the telecommunication sub-sector where sales of telephone credit is being flooded throughout the municipality. This sector employs about 38.6 percent of the labour force. The hospitality industry and financial sub-sector are also important areas in the service sector which are helping in diversifying the local economy.
1.3.7 Manufacturing and Industries
Manufacturing is the least developed sector of the local economy. This sector employs about 10.1 percent of the economically active population. The manufacturing sector is characterized by agro-processing, small scale vehicle repairs, metal-based, wooden-based, textile, garments, leather works, bee keeping, soap making, food processing/mineral or pure water production, and the manufacturing of farm implements/inputs. The carpenters as well as sawmill workers dominate the wood-based industry. Considering the importance of these industries, it imperative for the Municipal Assembly to support them create the needed market and also business development
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services. With the introduction of the Technology Solution Centre this sector will improve tremendously.
1.3.8 Periodic Markets
The major periodic market centres were identified within the Municipality. It was found that, large settlements like Dormaa Ahenkro and Kofibadukrom observe daily markets as well as weekly markets. Large varieties of farm produce are marketed in these markets and in large volumes. The Dormaa Ahenkro market is also regarded as the biggest periodic market, within the Municipality. Actual market days start from Monday and ends on Tuesday every week although marketing activities go throughout the week apart from these days. The market day at Kofibadukrom is observed on Wednesday every week.
1.3.9 Banking and Finance
Financial institutions, which are mostly commercial banks, are all located within Dormaa Ahenkro. There are four Commercial Banks in the Municipality. These are Ghana Commercial Bank, Agriculture Development Bank, Fedlity Bank and Stanbic Bank. There are also two rural banks in the Municipality. They include Wamfie and Kaaseman Rural Banks Agencies at Dormaa Ahenkro.
The Municipality is also serviced by four recognized Credi Unions. These are BACSSOD, Dormaa Area Teachers Credit Union, Presbyterian Church Credit Union and Multi-Credit.
Most communities within the Municipality have high physical access due to relatively good conditions of roads which make it easier to access banking services in Dormaa Ahenkro.
1.3.10 Tourism
The Municipality is endowed with sites of historic and aesthetic importance. These include: the Pamu, Mpameso and the Tain Forest Reserves all of which provide natural habitat for game and wild life especially elephants and monkeys. Monkeys are found in a sacred groove located at the outskirts of Duasidan, a community which is about 9 kilometres away from the municipal capital, Dormaa Ahemkro. The Ghana-La Cote d’ Ivoire border demarcation at Kofi Badukrom is also very attractive. One of the finest custom checkpoints in the country. Gonokrom customs checkpoint is also found in the Dormaa Central Municipal.
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1.4 Social Issues
1.4.1 Education
The Dormaa Central Municipal has a total of 205 Public Basic Schools distributed across the eight (8) educational circuits. These comprise 71 Kindergartens, 73 Primary Schools, 61 Junior High Schools. There are two (2) Senior High Schools, one (1) technical and vocational training institute and a Midwifery Training School in the Municipality. The private sector contributes significantly to the provision of education in the Municipality. There are many private schools in the Municipality.
As a requirement of the implementation of the Early Childhood Care Development Policy since 2007, Kindergartens (KGs) were incorporated into the formal basic education system and each primary school is expected to have a Kindergarten in each primary school. Due to the scattered nature of settlements in the Municipality, geographical access to basic education is very challenging in some communities.
Also, most of the Basic schools in the Municipality are without ancillary facilities such as libraries, laboratories, staff common rooms, staff accommodation` and sanitation facilities. There is therefore the urgent need to improve on the general educational infrastructure in the Municipality.
The performance of education sector in the Municipality is saddled with a number of challenges ranging from poor and inadequate infrastructure and logistics.
The total number of classrooms for public schools in the Municipality stands at eight hundred and fifty-nine. This comprises one hundred and fifty (150) for kindergarten (KG), four hundred and thit-two (432) for primary schools, one hundred and ninety-eight (198) for Junior High Schools and seventy-nine (79) for Senior High Schools.
In terms of enrolment, total enrolment for the two hundred and five (205) Public Basic Schools stand at 24,227. This comprises 4,835 for KGs, 13,848 for Primary Schools and 5,544 for Junior High Schools. Also, total enrolment for the two public senior high schools stood at 5,573. The table below shows the number of public basic schools and their enrolment.
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Table 6: Number of Basic Schools and their Enrolment
Levels
No. of Schools
Enrolment for 2026
KG
71
4,835
Primary
73
13,848
JHS
61
5,544
Total
205
24,227
Source: Municipal Education Directorate, 2026
With respect to trained teacher population, the total number of trained teachers for all the public basic schools and senior high schools in the Municipality stands at one thousand, three hundred and sixty (1,360). Out of this number, eight hundred and twenty-eight (828) are males and five hundred and thirty-two (532) are females. The table below shows the population trained teachers at various levels in the Municipality.
Table 7: Trained Teacher Population in Dormaa Central Municipality
Level
Number of Male Teachers
Number of Female Teachers
Total Number of Teachers
Kindergarten
21
213
234
Primary
336
192
528
Junior High School
304
91
395
Senior High School
167
36
203
Total
828
532
1,360
Source: Municipal Education Directorate, 2026
1.4.2 Health
Physical presence of health facilities and access to health institutions is not a major problem in the Municipality as there are twenty-four (24) health facilities made up of one Hospital, six (6) Health Centres, one (1) Rural Clinic, five (5) Private Clinics, ten (10) Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds, and One Maternity Home. Also, there are forty-two (42) Outreach points that are evenly distributed throughout the municipality. Looking at the spatial distribution of health facilities, the Dormaa Central Municipality is well endowed since majority of communities have high physical access to these facilities. However, there is the need to expand the CHPS Compound concept or upgrade some facilities to bring basic healthcare to the doorsteps
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of the deprived rural communities. The table below show the distribution of health facilities in the Municipality.
Table 8: Distribution of Health Facilities by Sub-Municipality
Name of Facility
Type
Ownership
Location
Services Provided
Dormaa Sub-municipal
1
Presbyterian Hospital
Hospital
CHAG
Dormaa Ahenkro
OPD, Surgical, dental, ophthalmology, maternity, ANC, pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology.
2
Savior Orthopedic Health Practice
Clinic
Private
Dormaa Ahenkro
OPD and clinical care for treatment of minor ailments
3
Ohenewaa Memorial Clinic
Clinic
Private
Dormaa Ahenkro
OPD and clinical care for treatment of minor ailments
4
Denmida Health Services
Clinic
Private
Dormaa Ahenkro
ANC and screening services
5
Pure Heart Maternity Home and Clinic
Maternity
Private
Badukrom
ANC; labor and maternity; OPD and clinical care for treatment of minor ailments
6
Antwirifo H/C
H/C
CHAG
Antwirifo
OPD services
7
Gonokrom CHPS
CHPS
GHS
Gonokrom
OPD, CWC, FP, home visits, community health services
8
Yawkrom /KKK
CHPS
GHS
Yawkrom/KKK
OPD, CWC, FP, home visits, community health services
9
Abonsrakrom CHPS
CHPS
GHS
Abonsrakrom
OPD, CWC, FP, home visits, community health services
10
Twumkrom CHPS
CHPS
GHS
Twumkrom
OPD, CWC, FP, home visits, community health services
11
St. Kyeadee Clinic
Clinic
Private
Badukrom
OPD and clinical care for treatment of minor ailments
12
Kofiasua Comm. Clinic
Clinic
GHS
Kofiasua
ANC; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
13
Sromani/Bonoyaw CHPS
CHPS
GHS
Sromani/Bonoyaw
OPD, CWC, FP, home visits, community health services
14
Nsenie CHPS
CHPS
GHS
Nsenie
OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
Aboabo Sub-municipal
15
Aboabo PHC
H/C
CHAG
AboaboNo.3
ANC; labor and maternity; OPD, CWC, home visits
16
Kwameasua PHC
H/C
CHAG
Kwameasua
ANC; labor and maternity; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
22
17
Tronang CHPS
CHPS Compound
GHS
Tronang
OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
18
Manteware CHPS
CHPS Compound
GHS
Manteware
OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
19
Mantewareso CHPS
CHPS Compound
GHS
Mantewareso
OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
Danyame Sub-municipal
20
Danyame H/C^
H/C
GHS
Danyame
ANC; labor and maternity; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
21
MSGR. Mensah Abrampah Clinic
Clinic
Private
Nsesereso
OPD services
22
Asunsu No.1 CHPS
CHPS
GHS
AsunsuNo.1
ANC; labor and maternity; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
Asikasu Sub-municipal 23 Asikasu/Nsuhia H/C^ H/C GHS Asikasu ANC; labor and maternity; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
Amasu Sub-municipal 24 Amasu H/C^ H/C GHS Amasu ANC; labor and maternity; OPD services, CWC, FP, community health service, home visits
Source: Municipal Health Directorate, 2026
In terms of health professionals, the Municipality currently has two hundred and seventy-five public health professionals as shown in the table below:
Table 9: Number of Public Health Professionals
Professional Category
Total Number
Municipal Director of Health
1
Physician Assistant (Medical)
4
Enrolled Nurses
63
Professional Nurses
40
23
Professional Midwives
37
Community Health Nurses
47
Technical Officer (Nutrition)
2
Laboratory Assistant
1
Pharmacy Technician
1
Public Health Officer (Disease Control)
2
Professional Nurse (Degree)
5
Professional Nurse (Psychiatry)
1
Technical Officer (Disease Control)
3
Technical Officer Health Information)
3
Technical Officer (Health Promotion)
2
Technical Officer (Laboratory)
4
Health Assistant
10
Technical Officer (Community Mental)
2
Technical Officer (Optical)
1
Executive Officer
7
Administrative Manager
9
Auditor
3
Accountants
3
Accounts Officer
2
Finance Officer
2
Labourer
1
Environmental Health Technologies
1
Stenographer
1
Watchmen
4
Security Guard
1
Field Technician
7
Staff Cook
1
Hospital Orderlies
3
Driver
1
24
Artisan
1
Total
276
Source: Municipal Health Directorate, 2026
1.4.3 Social and Child Protection
1.4.3.1 Child Protection
The Municipality has a serious challenge with child protection, child rights and promotion. This is because there are different forms of child abuse in the Municipality. Some children mostly within the age range of 11-15 years are found either roaming on the streets or doing menial jobs which are detrimental to their physical, health and psychological development. Some cocoa growing communities in the municipality have recorded sizeable number of such children and they are usually children of migrant farmers especially from the five (5) regions in northern part of the Ghana.
In order to deepen the understanding of child rights, child protection policies and as well as minimize child abuse in the Municipality, the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development organized sensitization programmes across most of the communities to educate the people about child right.
1.4.3.2 Child Welfare
The Department of Social Welfare and Community Development as part of ensuring child survival offers welfare services to protect abandoned children and abused children found in the municipality. The Department recorded and provided maintenance/welfare services to four hundred and nineteen (419) children in the Municipality within the plan period. On child abuse a total of two hundred and nineteen (219) cases were recorded and dealt from 2022 to September, 2025. This abuse cases are predominance in the rural communities and among children living with other people and not their parents.
1.4.3.3 Social Protection
Social protection is the bases of a secure and acceptable life. In view of this, the Dormaa Central Municipal Assembly exists to ensure that citizen’s lives are secure and protected. Therefore, the Municipal Assembly in collaboration with development partners have implemented some forms of social protection programs aim at securing the lives of the people in the municipality. Some of
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the social protection programs currently implemented in the municipality include; LEAP, PWD, NHIS, GSFP, Capitation Grant, FSHS policy and among others.
1.4.4 Food Systems, Transformation and Nutrition Security
A well-nourished population is less susceptible to health risks thereby reducing healthcare costs and enhancing productivity and educational attainment. The focus under this in the 2022-2025 was to increase food production to ensure food security of all year round. Nutritional education or programmes were to be carried out to promote nutrition and consumption of nutritious local foods as well as establish and expand social safety nets like LEAP and support for PWDs and vulnerable population.
However, despite these efforts, there are still a lot of issues or challenges that need to be addressed. Specific programmes have been formulated and activities have been designed in this plan to address the issues regarding Food Systems, Transformation and Nutrition Security in the Municipality.
1.4.5 Water and Sanitation
1.4.5.1 Water
Good health, survival, growth and development cannot be achieved without access to potable drinking water, improved sanitation and good hygiene. Delivery of these basic services of life has not been without challenges.
Despite the various efforts to provide water for rural communities, access to potable water is a major challenge in several communities in the municipality. The major sources of water supply in the municipality are pipe-borne water, mechanized boreholes, boreholes with pumps or hand pumps and hand dug wells.
Dormaa Ahenkro, Kwameasua, Tronang and Amasu are the communities served with pipe-borne water systems. The pipe-borne facility is owned and operated by the Ghana Water Company Limited. Even though water from these systems is reliable, not every part of these communities enjoy the facility since the standpipes are few. The Ghana Water Company is yet to extend pipelines to the newly developed areas in these communities. Besides this water facility, there are 346 boreholes across the municipality. The boreholes are owned and managed by Water and
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Sanitation Management Teams. The number of water facilities in the municipality is contained in the table below.
Table 10: Water Facilities in the Municipality Source of Water Number of Community with access Location Remarks
Pipe-System
3
Dormaa Ahenkro, Amasu and Tronang
The newly developed places in these communities are not served.
Limited Mechanized System
75
In 75 Communities
71 are currently functional
Boreholes fitted with pumps
229
In all the communities in the municipality
151 functional
Hand dug wells
90
Scattered in communities
Few are not in use
Rivers/Streams, etc
4
Dormaa Ahenkro, Aboabo No.3, Boutraso and Asikasu No.2
People use this water for farming and building purposes
Source: DCMA, MPCU, 2025
Coverage of potable water supply in the Municipality, according to the standards of 300 people to a borehole and 1500 people to a standpipe, seems to be in excess. In reality not all the people have access to potable water. This is because the model does not consider the distance to the facility, willingness and ability to pay for the water services. The morphologies of the settlements are highly scattered rendering many homes far from water facilities, although there are boreholes in such communities. Many other facilities do not function whilst others have low yields. This puts stress on the facilities resulting in frequent breakdowns.
In percentage terms it may seem the municipality is well off as about 80% of the communities have access to potable water. However, going by the United Nations (UN) requirement of 300 people to a borehole, water supply is woefully inadequate as the best community in terms of adequacy of water supply has a ratio of one borehole to over 400 people.
The provision and management of potable water in the municipality has not been easy task to the Municipal Assembly. The Assembly is currently faced with a number of challenges in its efforts
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to make water accessible to the people. The challenges range from human to natural factors. These factors include:
Some sources dry up in the dry season compelling people in those communities to revert to drinking from unwholesome sources making them vulnerable to water related diseases such diarrhoea.
The borehole/ hand-pumps constantly break down due to excessive pressure coupled with inability of communities to raise enough money for replacement of parts and general maintenance.
Even though wells without hand pumps appear to be one of the major sources of water, there are most left unprotected. As a result, run-offs empty their contents into such unprotected wells making them unsafe for human consumption.
For economic reason, most consumers of the pipe-borne system in the Municipality have difficulties in paying their water bills. This adversely affects the smooth operations an d management of the facility.
Illegal mining activities, in recent years the activities of illegal mining activities have affected potable water supply in the Municipality.
1.4.5.2 Sanitation
The sanitation situation is generally good as compared to other places. Open dumping is still the major method of refuse disposal in the Municipality. Unfortunately, most of the disposal points are often sited either very close to water sources or on slopes thus encouraging erosion of the refuse or seepage of liquid emanating from decomposed refuse into sources of water. The Municipal Assembly has procured sanitation equipment for staff of Environmental Health Unit and the bigger communities to tidy the towns. The Zoomlion Ghana Limited has provided refuse truck to carry refuse to the final disposal points. The Municipal Assembly has acquired and developed a new area as final deposal site.
As indicated in the table below, there are a total of 231 places of convenience in the Municipality. Most of the communities are served by pit latrines. Public toilet and pit latrine are the main toilet facilities used by the households in the Municipality. Public toilet facilities are largely used by
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urban communities than in rural localities. More households in rural areas than households in urban areas use pit latrine.
Table 11: Public Toilet Facilities S/N Type of Toilet Facility Number of Toilet Facilities Number Percentage (%)
1.
Water Closet (W/C)
11
4.8
2.
Acqua Privy
20
8.65
3.
KVIP
40
17.31
4.
Biogas
1
0.43
5.
Pit Latrine
159
68.83
Total
231
100
Source: DCMA, MPCU 2025
1.4.6 Gender
The Assembly places significant important in the realization of the rights of women, women empowerment which has been considered as cross-cutting theme that must be advanced across every other priority area of the Municipal Assembly. It provides a vision and a guide of where Assembly should be in terms of realizing these outcomes of women empowerment and rights. A lot of efforts have been made in this direction such as sensitization and education on gender-based violent, sexual harassment among others.
With regard to the empowerment and the rights of women, the MTDP seeks to achieve gender equality across all sectors, ensuring equal rights of men and women, opportunities, and representation for women; full economic empowerment of women, with equal access to jobs, and leadership roles; a significant reduction in gender-based violence (GBV), creating a society in which women and girls can live without fear; full gender parity in governance and decision-making at local levels; and the mainstreaming of gender rights considerations across all areas of priority.
1.4.7 Migration
Migration is one of the development issues that must be critically examined. As a boarder Municipality, its experiences both international and internal migrations. International migration can be both immigration and emigration. Emigration; most of the residents in the Municipality
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migrate to different countries especially the Europe and other Africa Countries to seek for greener pastures. Immigration; – people especially from Burkina Faso, Mali, Lat Cote, d’Ivoire, Niger and Nigeria come into the Municipality to engage in the poultry sector, farming and trading activities.
With regard to internal migration, many people from the northern part of Ghana move into the Municipality to engage in farming and also rural-urban migration is common in the Municipality. People migrate from the rural communities into the urban settlements to engage in pet trading transport business and others. These migrations both international and internal including rural-urban migration have both advantages and disadvantages. Measures and strategies have been developed and adopted in this plan to address the disadvantages and harness or exploit the advantages.
1.4.8 Tourism
Tourism plays a vital role in socio-economic development by generating revenue, creating jobs, and stimulating infrastructure development. As a major source of revenue, tourism boosts local economic development and fosters economic diversification. It drives employment not only within the tourism sector itself such as in hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies but also in related industries, including transportation, retail, and agriculture, which supply goods and services to tourists. Further, tourism encourages investment in infrastructure such as roads and ICT. It also promotes cultural preservation and conservation of cultural and natural heritage. By promoting local economic development and creating opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, tourism contributes to broader economic stability and growth, enhancing the overall quality of life.
The inability of the Dormaa Central Municipal Assembly to development its tourist attraction sites to generate revenue and create jobs is due to inadequate funds to develop tourism infrastructure, under-developed tourism products; tourism skills gaps and insufficient marketing & promotion of Dormaa tourists attraction sites as a preferred destination.
In this plan adequate provision has been made towards the development of the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary and Asunsu No.1 Mysterious rock. If the Assembly is able to develop these tourist attraction sites within this plan period, it will increase the revenue base of the Assembly and create a lot of jobs for the people.
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1.5 Human Settlement
HIERARCHY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SETTLEMENTS AND SERVICES
Using the scalogram analysis, the following criteria were used to delineate the settlements into various hierarchies.
1st Order Settlements: Settlements with centrality indices of 70% and above of the total centrality of 1,375
2nd Order Settlement: Settlements with centrality indices between 50 and 69% of the total centrality of 1,375
3rd Order Settlement: Settlements with centrality indices between 30 and 49% of the total centrality of 1,375
4th Order Settlements: Settlement with centrality indices below 0 and 29% of the total centrality of 1,375.
The process produced three order of settlements: 1st, 2nd and 4th Orders as contained in the table below Order Number of Communities Population within the order Names of Communities
1st
1
32,087
Dormaa Ahenkro
2nd
2
17,094
Amasu and Kofibadukrom
3rd
Nil
Nil
Asakasi No.1, Aboabo No.4, Aboabo No.2, Kwameasua, Kofiasua,
4th
8
2,552
Asunsu No.1, Asunsu No.2, Antwirifo, Asikasu No.1, Asunsi No.2, Maasu, Tronang, Koraso and Nsuhia
Source: DCMA, MPCU, 2025
Analysis of the scalogram indicates that there is a spatial imbalance in the distribution of services in the municipality. Services and facilities are concentrated in only Dormaa Ahenkro
Human settlements of varying sizes and performing various functions are located in various sections of the Municipality. Dormaa Ahenkro is the only first order settlement in the Municipality. There is a second order settlements namely Amasu. There is however no third order settlements,
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indicating the concentration of people and functions in Dormaa Ahenkro, the Municipal Capital and Amasu. There is fourth (4th) order settlements namely, Kofibadukrom, Nsuhia, Asikasu No.1, Koraso, Kofiasua, Aboabo No. 2, Aboabo No.4 and Antwirifo
Dormaa Ahenkro, the Municipal capital and the only first order settlement in the Municipality is geographically located in the middle of the municipality and is also the merging point for all the trunk roads passing through the Municipality. This makes physical accessibility to the capital easier especially for communities along or close to any of the trunk roads
There are currently eighteen (24) health facilities in the Municipality consisting of one (1) hospital, six (6) Health Centres, one (1) Rural Clinic, five (5) Private Clinics, ten (10) Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds, and One Maternity Home. Also, there are forty-two (42) Outreach points that are evenly distributed in the municipality. Looking at the spatial distribution of health facilities, the Dormaa Central Municipality is well endowed since majority of communities have high physical access to these facilities.
Implication of the Scalogram Analysis to the Municipality

1. The provision of services and facilities in the Municipality are woefully inadequate and the distribution skewed in favour of the middle part of the municipality.
2. Most of the services provided are of low order and as such the settlements are unable to function as central places to the hinterland. Therefore, if these first, second and third order settlements are to provide the level and variety of services required, they should be provided with high order services and facilities.
   Majority of the settlements in the Dormaa Central Municipality are small in size and limited in scope in functional structure. They comprise villages, hamlets and farmsteads. This makes it difficult for the provision central functions (infrastructure and services) on grounds of population threshold.
   1.6. Climate Change
   1.6.1 Climate Change Analysis and Its Related Issues
   Climate change is increasingly affecting communities in the Municipality and the country as a whole. It is imperative to take smart decisions from today to help prevent social and economic losses in the future. By considering climate vulnerabilities and incorporating adaptation strategies
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   into this plan can increase the resilience of current and future development since considering climate risks helps ensure a sustainable future.
   The environment of the municipality is fragile and prone to destruction by virtue of its resource endowment and unfavourable climatic situations. It is generally considered as partly degraded and at the threat of further degradation following a pathogenesis in most parts of the municipality. It abounds in natural resources, such as forest, gold, arable land, hills, economic trees and wildlife. Human effort through the crude methods of the utilization of these resources has resulted in environmental problems that are detrimental to the survival of the ecosystem and are catalyst to climate change. Thus, the choices of use and the methodologies applied to land affect the environment, create climate change and further hinder development.
   To effectively, address this problem the Forestry Service Commission and the Municipal Assembly as well as stakeholders must intensify trees planting, afforestation programmes and land reclamation through back-filling of degraded lands.
   Land and its components experience various levels of degrading conditions, which include; soil fertility decline/loss of soil nutrients/leaching, reduction in soil resilience/soil weakness, reduction in soil productivity, reduction in quantity and quality of vegetation cover, surface water shortage, siltation of water bodies, soil erosion/formation of erosion paths, deforested land, increase run-offs and destruction of natural regeneration capacity.
   These visible occurrences as stated above have greatly compromised the quality of the environment and its ability to provide the survival needs of majority of the people. It is however worth mentioning that the continuous human activities and encroachment on the generally fragile receiving environments, such as extensive bush burning and deforestation through illegal lumbering and firewood harvesting are serious factors contributing to climate change ; and the effect of these is the inevitable cause of dry-land issues in the municipality such as the loss of soil fertility, reduction in soil resilience, land degradation, soil erosion, siltation of water bodies and related flooding there-after.
   The Municipality is located in an area where soil is predominantly heavy in texture on the surface horizon with high inherent fertility due to the efficiency in organic matter contents, nitrogen and
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   potassium content. For this reason, the soils are generally susceptible to erosion and declining fertility, given the least negative land use practices.
   Due to the common nature of these unsustainable land use practices, some soils in the municipality are impoverished in humus and other soils nutrient properties. High on the list of the negative human practices are slash and burn and the competition of man with land for plants and animal residue. These are practices which prevent the accumulation of organic matter and further weaken the natural regeneration capacity of the soils; thus, rendering many arable lands unproductive. Thus, land degradation is inevitable in the municipality if much concern is not put to the environment.
   1.6.2 Measures to Reduce Climate Change in the Municipality
   Finding alternative livelihood programmes for the perpetrators of these activities will reduce its effects. Alternative livelihood programmes would sustain and improve upon to move the Youth from the unfriendly environmental activities to these alternative livelihood programmes such as tree plantation, snail and mushroom rearing. Again, educating farmers on farming activities along river banks could also reduce the effect on climate change. Tree planting exercise in the municipality should be intensified in all the Zonal Councils. The first and second cycle schools should be encouraged to form environmental clubs and quiz competition organized on topics like climate change. Stakeholders should respond to the following issues: restore areas degraded by construction activities, protect catchments areas of water bodies, prevent the use of marginal lands for agricultural purposes, control illegal lumbering and firewood harvesting and restore degraded areas in forest reserves.
   1.6.3 Hazard and Hazard identification/Inventory Mapping
   Individual hazard inventory mapping is a basic requirement of multi-hazard mapping. Mapping of hazardous events is important to understand the spatial relationship between the location of hazards and their predisposing factors. Hazard mapping was performed by aerial photo interpretation, Google Earth engine, survey, historical data, and other documents. The maping was done on zonal bases on the categorization of the natural hazards into flood, landslide, wind/rain storm and fire (domestic and bush fires), crop pests and diseases. The main predisposing factors or factors influencing the various identified hazards in the Municipality are summarized in table below.
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   Table 12. Influencing Factors of Hazards in the Municipality S/N Hazard Influencing factor
   1
   Flood
   Distance from stream
   Distance from slope
   Profile Curvature
   Nature of elevation
   Heavy rainfall
   Building on water ways
   2.
   Wind/Rain Storm
   Location
   Nature of forest cover
   3.
   Fire (domestic and bush fires)
   Distance from transmission line
   Distance from road
   Bad Farming Practice/Hunting
   Population density
   Distance from fire brigades
   Distance from gas/fuel stations
   Distance from electric substation
   4
   Crop pest and diseases
   Over tillage
   Burning
   Over cultivation
   5.
   Livestock pests and diseases
   Over tillage
   -Over cultivation
   1.6.3.1 Flood Hazard
   Historical data and field visit as well as digital aerospace were the methods employed to identify and evaluate flood peaks, depths, and volumes among the flood hazard communities and to generate flood hazard mapping. The most potential flood hazard communities in the Municipality include; Schaefer Street (S.S- Dormaa Ahenkro) and Nkyenkyenkye and this shown in figure 5 below.
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   Figure 3: Map of Flood Prone Areas in Dormaa Central Municipality
   1.6.3.2 Wind/Rain Storm
   The communities such as Nkyenkyenkye, Kuren, Asikasu No.1, Asikasu No.2, Nsuhia and Kokorasua were identified as most hazard communities in term of wind storm and figure 6 below is showing the location of these communities.
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   Figure 4: Map of Wind Storm Communities in Dormaa Central Municipality
   1.6.3.3 Fire Hazard
   The fire hazard is the most common hazard in the Municipality. almost all the communities in the Municipality are prone to domestic, bush or commercial fire hazard. The factors such as distance from transmission line, population density, distance from road, distance from fire brigades, distance from fuel/gas station and distance from electric substation. For most bush fire hazard communities identified are Kosane, Asunsu No.1, Asunsu No.2, Koradaso, Maasu, Asikasu No.1, Asikasu No.2 and Nsuhia. New town, ABB, AB, Kofiasua, Awase, Atesikrom, Zongo A and B, SS, Low Cost, Old town (Central/Daily Market Area), Amasu, Aboabo No.2, Aboabo No.3, Kofibadukrom and Danyame were also identified as for domestic and commercial fire hazard prone communities.
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   Figure 5: Map of Fire Prone Communities
   1.6.3.4 Crops and Livestock Pests and Diseases
   This was done in order to established the both crop and livestock hazard communities to informed planning or mitigation measures and the kind of livestock to rear and crop to cultivate. The hazard prone communities were mostly communities with poultry farms.
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   Figure 6: Map of Crops and Pest Disease Prone Areas
   1.6.3.5 Multi Hazard
   Multi-hazard risk assessment was conducted as part of the plan preparation. This was to identified communities that are likely to be affected by two or more hazards identified simultaneously. The figure 9 below provides the Multi-hazard Map showing communities likely to be affected by multiple hazards.
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   Figure 7: Multi Hazard Map in the Dormaa Central Municipality
   1.6.3.6 Disaster
   The most common form of disasters identified in the Municipality are the same as considered as hazards and these include rain/wind storm, fire outbreak either domestic or bush fires, flood and pest/disease outbreak. The areas prone to these disasters have already indicated in the Multi-hazard map.
   Adequate measures and interventions have been put in place in this plan to address and mitigate any form of disaster that may occurred. It is highly important to indicate that the equal participation of gender (especially women), for all the disaster prevention and mitigation related initiatives by the Assembly will be ensured.
   1.7 Economic Infrastructure
   1.7.1 Transport Network
   Settlements in the Municipality are well linked by highways and feeder roads which facilitate socio-economic activities. The main mode of transportation is by road. The only longest tarred
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   road in the Dormaa municipality is the Gonokrom-Dormaa Ahenkro road which links it up with Sunyani, the regional capital. Also tarred are the Dormaa Ahenkro Township roads and the 5km Dormaa-Ahenkro, Asikasu No.1 road. The rest of the road network in the municipality which comprises feeder roads is not tarred. The network connecting the main centres is motorable all year round. They constantly require re-gravelling, reshaping and rehabilitation. The transport services in the municipality are dominated by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, (GPRTU) and the Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA). The Inter-City Transport Companies also link the municipality to Sunyani, Kumasi and Accra. The Metro Mass Transport buses also operate from Sunyani and Kumasi to Dormaa Ahenkro.
   Table 13: Road Characteristics Road Type Length of Road (Km)
   Feeder Roads
   426.55
   Trunk Road
   243
   Total
   669.55
   Source: DCMA, MPCU, 2025
   1.7.2 Telecommunication
   In terms of telecommunications, the Municipality is fortunate to have services of almost all the networks that are operating in the country; MTN, Telece and AirtelTigo. Signals are all activated for reception but there are still some of communities which do not receive these signals.
   1.7.3 Energy (Electricity)
   Most of the communities in the municipality have access to electricity. It is estimated that about seven (73) out of eighty-three (83) communities in the municipality have access to electricity. The communities without electricity in the Municipality are small rural farming settlements.
   1.8 Asset Maintenance
   This was one of the critical programme that was considered in the 2022– 2025 MTDP to ensure that all assets/infrastructure of the Assembly were properly maintained to ensure their sustainability. The implementation of this programme has been faced with none or inadequate release of funds. Annual expenditure on maintenance of Assembly’s assets/infrastructure was not as expected.
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   Despite this challenge adequate provision have been in the current plan for the maintenance of Assets/infrastructure of the Assembly. Effort will be made to ensure that adequate funds will be release for the implementation of maintenance activities.
   1.9 DIGITALISATION
   The digital transformation of the Municipality is a multifaceted initiative aimed at enhancing service delivery, improving efficiency and fostering popular participation at the local level. Being implemented by the various departments and units of the Assembly, this digital transformation involves several strategic initiatives designed to integrate digital technologies across sectors, departments and units. The implementation of the current MTDP Plan (2022-2025) saw the use of digital platforms such as WhatsApp, Zoom links, Assembly Web site, revenue mobilization software, DDDP and other to enhance and improved service delivery.
   The 2026-2029 MTDP proposes more digital transformation in service delivery, especially inter and intra sector/departmental service delivery and citizen-facing services. This will be possible if government will invest in digital public infrastructure to give Assemblies more access to a digital system.
   1.10 Disability Inclusion
   It also outlines several outcomes with respect to realizing the rights of persons with disabilities, advocating for a society with an equitable education system responsive to the needs of learners with disabilities, employment strategies to increase the employment of persons with disabilities, healthcare services that are accessible and tailored to the needs of persons with disabilities, and responsive legal frameworks protecting against discrimination and promoting equal rights and dignity for all.
   Despite some progress in realizing these outcomes particularly through 5% Payment to PWDs, promoting inclusive education, training of PWDs in income generating activities, the problem of disability inclusion still persists in various aspects of life, with many disable persons facing marginalization, lack of access to most public facilities and services including unemployment. The lack of progress on disability inclusion and rights has been particularly pronounced.
   The MTDP 2026-2029 identifies a combination of strategies that will be followed in all the priority areas to ensuring the disability inclusion in the municipality. These strategies will include to
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   systematically remove barriers and expand opportunities for these groups of persons, expand social protection, economic empowerment through targeted skills development, increasing access to employment opportunities, entrepreneurship programmes and promoting equality with respect to political representation and decision making at the local level.
   1.11 Youth
   The 2026-2029 MTDP identified a range of targeted desired outcomes regarding youth, which included a significant reduction in youth unemployment, and ensuring that youth can participate meaningfully in the economy; universal access to education and vocational training to equip young people with relevant skills; increased support for youth-led entrepreneurship; and a high level of participation by youth in political and societal decision-making processes at the local level.
   Despite some progress in realizing some of these outcomes, youth unemployment still remains a major challenge in the Municipality.
   Access to economic resources to helps young people to realize their dreams, economic empowerment, education and skills development, and promoting youth entrepreneurship among others have been identified as strategies with respect to addressing youth unemployment and promoting youth empowerment in the medium term in the Municipality.
   1.12 Natural Capital Accounting
   The Map below shows the land cover of the Dormaa Central Municipality. It can be seen that a significant amount of land is used for agricultural purposes and forestry plantations. This is one of Municipality advantages of having a natural environment that is conducive to various forms of agriculture activities.
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   Figure 8: Map of Dormaa Central Municipality
   From the Map above it is clear that Dormaa Central Municipality has forestry reserved, Plantation areas and mineral deposit or mining sites. These notable features are natural resources. This creates potential opportunities for socio-economic development. Closely linked to the mining and forestry cover/plantation is the tourism and agriculture (cashew and cocoa plantation) sectors. Strong links exist between forest conservation and agriculture activities as well as the tourism, based on the presence of Forestry Commission Services in the municipality.
   In addition, Municipality has an environment that makes it suitable for the growth of various forms of nature-based timbers/trees. It is important to point out the level of environmentally sensitivity in the area as seen in the recent years increase in distraction on the natural environment within the area by illegal activities. This highlights the need for sustainable environmental management in the Municipality.
   The area of the Municipality is suitable for large scale agricultural farming and also very conducive for livestock production especially poultry. For Planning priorities relating to the natural capital that are identified in Dormaa Central Municipal include the protection of medicinal plants, reduction of pollution and protection of natural resources (the forest i.e., fauna, flora, water sources etc). Given the links between agricultural activities in the area and its natural endowment, it is critical that sustainability be ensured in the environmental management. This is emphasized by
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   threats from factors such as illegal lumbering, illegal mining and climate change, all of which will affect Municipality.
   1.13 Air Quality
   The Dormaa Central Municipal Assembly has not conducted air quality as well as monitoring of air quality in the Municipality. currently, the Municipal Assembly does not have the means of conducting and monitoring air quality in the Municipality. however, the Assembly will contact Environmental Protection Agency and other relevance authority to ensure the air quality test and monitoring and management of air quality in the Municipality for safe live of all living things.
   1.14 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
   The focus of The Assembly on WASH was to improved access to water, safely managed sanitation, and improving maintenance and functionality of WASH facilities in the Municipality. Ensuring access to WASH will reduce the disease burden, leading to a reduction in household expenditure on health, an
   improvement in the productivity of human capital, and an increase in household incomes. Over the period the Assembly together with development partner had provided wash facilities (boreholes, toilet facilities) across the municipality. The main sources of drinking water for households in the municipality are pipe borne, mechanized boreholes, hand pump, wells and protected wells. There are more households using boreholes and protected wells in the rural localities than in the urban communities. Other sources of water in the Municipality include rivers, streams, dugouts, ponds and dams which are often polluted. Access to safe drinking water stands at 96% in the Municipality which means that, about 4% of the population source drinking water from rivers, streams and dug well which are often contaminated with pathogens causing water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and intestinal diseases among others.
   Public toilets and pits latrine are the main toilet facilities used by the households in the municipality. Public toilet facilities are largely used by urban communities than in rural localities. More households in rural areas than households in urban areas use pit latrine.
   The main sources of liquid generation are identified from cooking, washing and bathing activities. The general practice of disposing residential waste water is free pour on the street and compound.
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   Whilst some residents saw the need for technical support in soakaway pit design and construction to prevent breeding of mosquitoes and odour associated with existing systems.
   Despite these, access to safe drinking water, improved toilet facilities and maintenance of existing sanitation facilities still remain a major challenge and this is attributed to the growing population in the communities. The Assembly will make conscious efforts in ensuring 100% access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation services are achieved by the end this plan period (2029).
   1.15 Governance
   Governance in the jurisdiction of the Assembly is entrusted with the Municipal Assembly whereas the custody of the land is held by the traditional authorities. Below is the structure of the Governance system in the Municipality.
   1.15.1 Administration and Management of the Municipal
   The Legislative Instrument (L.I 2087) of 2012 established the Dormaa Central Municipal to manage Assembly. The Municipal Assembly was inaugurated on 6th February, 2012 by Local Government Act 463, 1993.This legal framework empowers the Assembly to become a planning Authority in the formulation of policies, programmes, projects, as well as mobilization of resources, within the jurisdiction of the Assembly to undertake development projects. In ensuring effective and efficient operation in the Assembly, communication structure is developed for the Assembly as illustrated below.
   1.15.2 Composition of the Assembly
   The Municipal Assembly is made up the General Assembly, Executive Committee and its Sub-committees, Coordinating Directorate and Decentralized Departments. The Assembly, the highest decision-making body, has a membership of forty-four (44) comprising the Municipal Chief Executive nominated by the president and must be confirmed by not less than two-thirds of the General Assembly. Two-thirds (30) members are elected (made up of 28 males and 2 females) and and one-third (14) appointed (11 males and 3 females) by the president in consultation with traditional authorities and organized economic groups. The Member of Parliament (1) whose Constituency falls within the Municipality is a non-voting member of the Assembly. The Presiding Member is elected by two-thirds of all Assembly members. The General Assembly is by law to meet at least three times a year.
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   1.15.3 Executive Committee, Sub-committees and Other Committees
   In the performance of its functions, the Municipal Assembly works through the Executive Committee and its subsidiary Sub-committees. The five statutory sub-committees of the Assembly include; Finance and Administration Sub-committee the Development Planning Sub-committee, Social Services Sub-committee, Works Sub-committee and Justice and Security Sub-committee. Other Sub-committees are Agriculture and Environment Sub-committee and Medium and Small-Scale Enterprise Sub-committee. Reports of the statutory sub-committees and the non-statutory sub-committees are submitted to the Executive committee which is presided over by the Municipal Chief Executive for onward submission to the General Assembly.
   There also exist Public Complaints Committee which handles public complaints and refer it to the appropriate bodies if the need be. The Municipal Chief Executive chairs meetings of the Executive Committee while the Presiding Member chairs meetings of the General Assembly and the Complaints Committee. Each Sub-committee has a chairperson who is elected from among the members at the first meeting.
   1.15.4 Sub-Municipal Structures
   The Dormaa Central Municipal Assembly has nine (9) Zonal Councils namely, Dormaa Ahenkro Urban Council, Adumasa Zonal Council, Ankobea Zonal Council, Aboabo Zonal Council, Pamuagya Zonal Council, Kosane-Twumkrom Zonal Council, Asunsu Zonal Council, Nsuhia Zonal Council and Atesikrom Zonal Council. Only one Zonal Council has a permanent office accommodation. The rest are in rented offices. Management is yet to recruit permanent staff and procure office equipment/logistics to furnish the councils so as to enhance their smooth operations. The Zonal Councils are essentially rallying points of local enthusiasm in support of the Local Government System. These Councils are managed by Councilors.
   The Municipality is also divided into 30 Electoral Areas and 34 Unit Committees with 170 members. The Unit Committees play the important roles for enforcement and mobilization matters since they are closer to the people.
   The table below shows the Zonal Councils with their respective Electoral Areas. In pursuant to this, all the nine Urban and Zonal Councils in the municipality were instrumental in the various stages and processes that were employed in the development of the Medium-Term Development
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   Plan (2026 – 2029). Representatives of the Urban/Zonal Councils were involved in the data collection process especially in the community needs assessment.
   Table 14: Zonal Councils with their Respective Electoral Areas No. Zonal Council Electoral Area
   1.
   Dormaa Ahenkro Urban Council
   Dormaa Central
   Akonkodiem
   Yeboah Afari
   Ahenboboano
   Broniasua
   Schaefer
   Pamu
   Atoase
   2.
   Adumasa Zonal Council
   Kwameasua
   Tronang
   3.
   Ankobea Zonal Council
   Besease/Amasu
   Adumasa/Amasu
   4.
   Aboabo Zonal Council
   Aboabo No.1
   Aboabo No.2
   Aboabo No.4
   Manteware
   5.
   Pamuagya Zonal Council
   Antwirifo
   Kofiasua
   Babianeha
   6.
   Kosane-Twumkrom Zonal Council
   Twumkro
   Kosane
   7.
   Asunsu Zonal Counmcil
   Asunsu
   Danyame
   Nsesreso
   8.
   Nsuhia Zonal Council
   Masu/Kuren
   Asikasu
   Nsuhia/Kokorasua
   9.
   Atesikrom Zonal Council
   Yawkrom
   Atesikrom
   Tweapesie
   Source: Central Administration Department, 2025
   The above table indicates that Dormaa Ahenkro Urban Council has the highest number of electoral areas whiles Kosane-Twumkrom Zonal Council, Adumasa Zonal Council and Ankobea Zonal Council have the least number of electoral areas. The Figure below indicates Dormaa Central Sub-district structures.
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   Figure 9: Map Showing Dormaa Central Sub-District Structures
   Source: Physical Planning Department, Dormaa Central Municipal, 2025
   1.15.5 Unit Committees
   One of the instruments of the Municipal’s administration that is supposed to be very relevant to the development of the Municipality and where the under-represented/poor could be adequately involved are the Unit Committees which are the lowest level of political institutions in the Assembly. The Dormaa Cnetral Municipal Assembly is divided into ten (10) Unit Committees. The Unit Committees are supposed to enhance effective and efficient participation. They are
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   expected to mobilize the communities for development and also ensure that the development concerns and aspirations of the local communities are adequately addressed by the Municipal Assembly. The Zonal Councils and Unit Committees are however, not planning authorities.
   1.15.6 Decentralized Departments
   The Municipal Assembly has 12 departments namely, Central Administration Department, Finance Department, Works Department, Physical Planning Department, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, Urban Roads Department, Department of Education, Youth and Sports, Disaster Prevention and Management Department, and Natural Resources Conservation and Forestry Department. These departments perform the technical functions and therefore provide the technical expertise for the local level development. Some of the existing departments are not fully integrated into the Assembly structures. Most of these departments still continue to look up to their mother departments and ministries for policy direction. There is the need for the Central Government to expedite action on the integration process.
   1.15.7 Public Sector Agencies
   These are the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) through which government policies and programmes are implemented. At the Municipal level, MDAs that are of direct importance to the citizens are the providers of public utilities including water, electricity, sanitation and telecommunications among others. Many of these utility providers have been privatized in order to ensure that they operate efficiently and deliver services required by urban residents. The relationship between Dormaa Central Municipal Assembly and the Utility Organizations is essentially collaborative.
   1.15.8 Community Organizations/Non-state Actors
   The Municipality has local and international NGOs that have partnered with the government in order to implement programmes and projects that seek to improve the living standards of the citizens. These are currently implementing programmes and projects in the area of capacity building, education, health, local economy development and agriculture.
   The major Non-governmental organizations, operating in the Municipality include SMAiD International, Dormaa Children Home and Asedaye Children Home.
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   1.15.9 Peace and Security
   A peaceful and secure environment allows for uninterrupted delivery of goods and services which bolsters steady economic progress and provides certainty for long-term domestic & foreign investment. The Municipality has four Police Stations with personnel strength of ninety-four (94), comprising of sixty-two (62) males and thirty-two (32) females and a Police-Citizen ratio of one (1) police to 1,258 people as at the end of 2024.The Municipal has the Municipal Police headquarters in the municipal capital, Dormaa Ahenkro. Also, the Municipal has the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ambulance Services both accommodated in the municipality. Notwithstanding, the Municipal Security Committee (MUSEC) is in place and chaired by the Municipal Chief Executive.
   The Municipality will continue to ensure a safe and secure environment for all populace by intensifying police patrols both day and night, placement of police personnel at vantage points to promote visibility policing aimed at deterring the committing of crime. Police-community engagements were carried out in communities based on the model of citizen-friendly policing, guard duties at banks, Electoral Commission office. Highway duties were performed to ensure safety of commuters, motor check operations, investigation of reported criminal cases.
   1.16. Community Action Planning
   As part of the plan preparation process, the plan preparation team engaged and supported the communities to prepare communities action plans (CAP). This was done through community engagements/fora. The activity was to assess the current situation of each community in terms of development, what affects their work or limit them to achieve high productivity levels and what they expect the Assembly to do for them in the next four years. Community members under the leadership of their Assembly members, Unit Committees, Traditional Leaders were brought together in a community fora/engagement and it was done in all the major communities in the Municipality.
   The community members analyzed the problems affecting their communities. The problems analysis was followed by the identification and assessment of community needs. These were collated from the communities form the basis of the current needs and aspirations of the Municipal, based on the prioritized needs, development interventions were formulated for implementation. The collated and summarized community needs and aspirations is as indicated in Annex.
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   1.17 Popular Participation
   The Assembly is mandated to promotes local level democracy and community involvement in its affairs by facilitating capacity building and establishing operational mechanisms for ensuring public participation in planning, project/programmes implementation and general Assembly’s affairs. Among other things, the mechanisms that were adopted and used to promote democracy and public participation during the plan implementation period include; Public Budget Hearing, Stakeholders’ consultation/engagement on Fee Fixing, Validation and Review Fora, Notice Boards, Town Hall Meetings, General Assembly Meetings, Website Publications and Exhibition of Development Projects as well as Municipal Chief Executive community’ engagements.
   1.18 Traditional Authority
   Traditional authorities also play an important role in governance. There is one Paramount Chief in the Municipality that is the Dormaahene, whilst the rest are divisional chiefs, sub-divisional chiefs or sectional heads under the Paramount Chief. Traditional Authorities have the power and authority based on customs and traditions to make legitimate decisions in their area of jurisdiction. Though modernity has limited the functions of Traditional Authorities, they still play a vital role in ensuring sufficient stability and sanity in the community; mobilizing community members for the development of the Municipality; managing and resolving conflicts within the communities; releasing land for development and also resolve land disputes and serving as knowledgeable people for consultation on affairs concerning the community. More conscious collaboration between the traditional authorities and the local authorities is a necessary ingredient for sustained good governance.