INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The Ada West District was carved out of the former Dangbe East District in the Greater Accra Region. It was established in 2012 by Legislative Instrument (LI. 2029) with its capital at Sege. The District shares boundaries with North Tongu District to the North, Ada East District and Ningo Prampram to the East and West respectively. It is bounded to the South by the Gulf of Guinea which stretches from Akplabanya to Goi. It is approximately 80 Kilometers from Accra, the regional capital. 1.2 Physical Features The total land size of the district is about 323.721 square kilometers and forms approximately 10 percent of the total land size of the Greater Accra Region. The District forms part of the central portions of the Accra plains. The relief is generally gentle and undulating, a low plain with heights not exceeding 60 meters (200 ft.) above sea level. The prominent relief features include the Anyamam boulders rising about 240 meters (800 ft.) above sea level. These boulders are scattered irregularly over the sea.
The origin of the indigenous people
The Ada people are the Dangme-speaking people who migrated into modern Ghana from east of the Volta River in the fourteenth century. The patrilineal descent system, where the male line is used for recruitment into the lineage or succession inheritance is the type practiced by the indigenous people.
The Traditional Political System
The Traditional political head of the Adas’ (Okorli) is the paramount chief (matse). The next in command is the clan head (Wetsoyi) followed by the Chiefs (Asafoatseme). Every village is affiliated to a clan and in each of these clans is a sub-chief who is a subject to the Asafoatseme. There are also hamlets headed by headmen who preside over the people on behalf of the sub-chiefs. The Ada nation was originally made up of eight clans namely; Adibiawe, Lomobiawe, Tekperbiawe, Dangmebiawe, Kabiawe, Ohuewem, Korgbor and Kudjragbe. Later, Kabiawe was divided into three separate clans, i.e. Kabiawe-tsu, Kabiawe-yumu and Kabiawe-Kponor..
Festivals
The Asafotufiam is the main festival of the people of Ada which they usually celebrate annually in the first week of August. The festival serves as a remembrance of the forefathers who fought the war in their quest to migrate to their present location. The festival brings all the indigenes of Ada for the week-long festivity to make merry and re-unite families among others.
Economy
The natural environment of the district to a large extent dictates the economic activities that go on there. Salt mining provides employment for a large number of the population particularly in areas where the resource exists. The District mostly gains its revenue from the commodity. The district is however predominantly an agricultural one making farming a major economic activity. Apart from the natural environment a contributory factor to this is due to the fact that the majority of the population lives in rural settlements. Crops farmed are mainly cassava, maize and among others. Vegetables like tomatoes, onions, shallots, garden eggs, pepper, carrots, and okra. Fruits such as water melon also feature predominantly to sustain the 4 livelihood of farmers. There is one rural bank, a few micro finance organizations and a Cooperative Union in the district.