Bekwai

Bekwai is a town in Ghana. It is the capital of Amansie East District. Bekwai is almost 26 kilometers from the city Kumasi. Bekwai has a population of 4260 people. Administrative region of level 2(a local district) Geographical coordinates are 6° 27' 0" North, 1° 35' 0" West and its original name (with diacritics) is Bekwai. Bekwai has Two government Secondary schools, the Seventh Day Adventist(SDA) and Wesley High school. other private schools include the Vocational school and St. Joseph High school. It has about ten middle schools. They are Victory International, Adventist preparatory school, Seventh Day adventist preparatory school, Experimental school, Presbyterian school, to mention but a few.

Nearby towns like Amoaful, Abodom, Asekyere, Bogyawe, Adeito etc come to Bekwai to trade. Wednesday is the market day Bekwai is quite a busy town, with very challenging kids and parents trying to fight their way out of Poverty in Ghana.

Location and Map

Bekwai is found about 26 kilometers away from Kumasi, Ashanti. It is a town with a decent size and population. it is surrounded by a lot of stubs. It's of the amansie east district.

History

The name Bekwai stems from abe (palm in Twi) and kwaye (forest in twi). Thus abe kwaye literally meaning palm forest became Bekwai. It was the abode of the palm wine tappers for the Asantehene. He later sent some of his relatives to go and Lord over the land and that is why the royals are Oyoko, just like the Asantehene.

The last ancestor of the Palm Wine tappers was the late Mr. Francis Ankobiah (alias Papa Anko panyin), whose residence was directly opposite the Mobil Filling station. He was the father of Mr. Victor Ankobiah (known in Bekwai as Bra Mallam), among others.

Schools

Bekwai has an ernoumous number of schools for its size. it has over ten Primary schools ( Private and government) and the same number for middle school. Bekwai has two well known Government schools1. Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School.SDA has a primary to Secondary school system. Is over 50 years old and has made a lot of contributions to the country. the school has a boarding house system and days student system and it houses students from all over Ghana. [http://www.geocities.com/otutu2000/SDA.html] 2. Wesley High school.This is a new school in Bekwai.Bekwai hopes to expand this school and improve the teaching standards for the well being of students.established in 1994 with Student enrollment 717 - Pre-baccalaureate-Baccalaureate [http://public.gbhem.org/iamscu/schooldetails.asp?country_code=GHA] Others include the Vocational School, St Joseph’s Technical School and ATEC etc.

Bekwai is an inter-tribal town, Asates, Fantes, Moshies, Gas, Ewes just to metion but few. Their rich historical sites include Abrofo Asieye -Burial ground for the whites, which is located behind house No AF 5 which used to be called 'Companyee' owned by the late Mr Donkor.

Bekwai has its own King of state called Emmanuel kwaku duah.