Amenfi West District Assembly
The Amenfi West District Assembly with Asankragwa as its capital was part of the erstwhile Wasa Amenfi District Assembly existed under Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2012. By virtue of the new L.I, the name Wassa Amenfi West District Assembly was changed to Amenfi West District Assembly.
Amenfi West District Assembly is located in the middle part of the Western Region of the country. It is bounded to the West by Suaman and Aowin districts, to the East by Amenfi Central and Prestea-Huni Valley and to the South by Jomoro and Ellembelle districts. The Amenfi West District Assembly, is one of the thirty (22) administrative authorities in the Western Region.
The Assembly has a total membership of twenty seven (27). This is made up of nineteen (19) elected members, with eight (8) Government Appointees; the District Chief Executive has a voting right whilst the Member of Parliament does not have voting right. In line with the 1992 constitution, the Assembly has the following Sub-District Structures;
• Town Council One (1) Asankragwa
• Area Councils Two (2) Breman and Samreboi
• Unit Committee members ninety (90)
Location and Size
The District is located in the middle part of the Western Region and has a total land area of about 1,448.556 square kilometers. It lies between latitude 5 30’N and 6 15’N and longitude 1 45’W and 2 11’W. It has over 150 communities.
Population
The current population of Amenfi West District is projected at 106,869 at a growth rate of 2.5% per annum with 2010 population as the base of which 49 percent were female (52,366) and 51 percent being male (54,503). The concentration is in the principal towns of Asankragwa, Samreboi, Breman and Wassa Dunkwa which are commercial towns. The distribution of population in the other communities is being influenced by farming and small scale mining (Galamsey).
District Assembly Economy
Roads
The Amenfi West District has about 524.11kms length of feeder roads, only 45.9kms (8.76%) of roads in the district has been tarred and the remaining being feeder roads and in very deplorable states. The district generally has very poor road network. The poor nature of the roads has adverse effect on service delivery in the entire district. In 2015 budget, GH₵ 158,947.23 has been earmarked for re-shaping and gravelling of feeder roads and general servicing of machines/equipment
Agriculture
Agriculture is the main economic activity in the district which employs about 75% of the active labour force. Cash crops grown are mostly cocoa, oil palm, and rubber and the major food crops produced include cassava, maize, rice, garden eggs, and tomatoes. Other economic activities include Auto Mechanic, Carpentry, Hair dressing and Dress making. The main key issues confronting the agricultural sector in the district include; insufficient agricultural extension officers and logistics, problem of transportation of farm produce and inadequate ready markets. Therefore, in the 2016 budget a lot of interventions such as rehabilitation of existing markets and construction of new markets have been roll out to take care of some of the situations
Health
The district has two major hospitals; Roman Catholic Hospital at Asankragwa and Samatex Hospital at Samreboi. There are also other thirteen (13) public health care facilities and one private clinic within the various communities in the district (GHS, Asankragwa, 2015). The district health directorate has several challenges, some of which are; inadequate infrastructure, inadequate staff accommodations and inadequate logistics.
Under the NHIS, estimated total active members as at June, 2015 stood at 61,959 with 27,891 being males and the remaining 34,068 being females.