Amedzofe (Volta Region) 31 March '99

The chiefs and people of Amedzofe in the Ho district have started an 18-month programme to establish structures to boost the area's tourism potentials. As part of the programme the community has established a tourism office and a Non-Governmental Organisation called the Amedzofe Tourism Development Planning Council, comprising 20 prominent citizens and representatives of all the four clans in the community. The council is to oversee strategic planning and funding towards the implementation of the programme. At a meeting of the council at Amedzofe on Saturday, members agreed on plans to rehabilitate some abandoned structures to serve as guest houses while 10 new ones are to be constructed along with restaurants. Mr Craig Norman, an American Peace Corps volunteer based in Amedzofe, who initiated the programme, said "the community abounds in very unique natural sites which could turn Amedzofe into the number one tourist centre in Ghana if the necessary structures are put in place". He said apart from being the highest point of human settlement in Ghana, it also has a mild breezy and unpolluted mosquito-free environment and a lush rain-forest which holds special interest and intrigue for ecologically sensitive tourism. In Amedzofe, one can also find Mountain Gemi, the second highest mountain in Ghana with a 12 feet iron cross at its hermit planted in the 1880s by German missionaries in addition to other historical German architectural sites and one of the most beautiful but undiscovered waterfalls in the country. Mr Norman, who is also the Tourism Development Co- ordinator, said funding for the programme will come through assistance from non-governmental organisations and private local and external investors. This is in line with government's Vision 2020 programme and the Ghana Tourism Development plan which among other things seek to develop tourism from the grassroots and bring its benefits to the communities in order to alleviate poverty, he said. Mr S.K. Addo, chairman of the council and Mr Joe Adinyira, a member, said the community has wholeheartedly embraced the idea because it has opened "our eyes to the goldmine on which we have been sitting and taken it for granted". They pledged their support to Mr Norman for the success of the programme but regretted that efforts to get unit committee members of other communities to participate in the programme did not materialise.