AMECO, tourism development in Amedzofe

Amedzofe in the Ho West District is a beautiful town, lying majestically at a height of 2,400 feet above sea level, making it the highest human settlement in Ghana.

The 800-metre Mount Gemi is in Amedzofe where the weather is sub-tropical.

The captivating Oti Falls which is hidden in a forest of bright and colourful flowers is also in Amedzofe, where various fruits are produced bountifully.

The steep Avatime Mountains and the deep slopes covered by the dense forests and the meandering road around the mountains are a delight to watch.

These natural characteristics and the friendly nature of the people make Amedzofe an important tourists’ destination in the country.

The recent introduction of a canopy walkway in Amedzofe is another bold step to boost tourism in the area.

The Amedzofe walkway is one of the latest tourism charms in the Volta Region, installed to provide adventure and recreation for holiday makers.

College

Apart from those features, there is a man-made icon which also adds to the importance of the town and that is the E.P. College of Education, Amedzofe (AMECO), established 76 years ago.

The structures of the college, which were put up by the German missionaries in the 19th century for ecclesiastical purposes, are stunning monumental features of Amedzofe.

It, therefore, became a source of worry for the college, traditional authorities and the people of Amedzofe when the structures on the campus deteriorated over the decades due the lack of maintenance.

In spite of the challenges, the management of the institution is now making enormous strides in projecting the image of the college, which now has 1,055 students.

The college, in a bold move to reverse the trend, has recently embarked on crucial infrastructural development projects on the campus to lift the flag of AMECO to greater heights of honour from its internally generated fund (IGF).

These include a new administration block annex, which was recently put up at a cost of GHc500, 000. It is now complementing the old administration block, which was built some 200 years ago and later taken over by the founding fathers of the college.

Meanwhile, a 180-bed capacity female hostel project, also fully funded with IGF, is nearing completion.

When completed, it will fill the gab created as a result of the stalled four-storey GETfund female hostel project which took off 12 years ago but still at the foundation level.

The GHc1.3 million self-help project is progressing steadily with IGF.

In yet another evidence of AMECO’s self-help spirit, a four-unit two-bedroom flats project for tutors on the campus is springing up rapidly.

The GHc870,000 project is being funded jointly by the IGF and the college Alumni.

Further, AMECO has so far spent GHc63,000 to renovate the college Demonstration School and other facilities as part of preparations to start the Bachelor of Education, Early Childhood programme, in accordance with the government’s policy to train more Early Grade Teachers to make up for the shortfall in the area.

AMECO is the only college offering French in the Volta and Oti regions, and that gives it an international status.

Ethnic diversity

The Principal, Dr Dickson Tsey, maintains that AMECO is determined to bridge the current male: female ratio of 55:45.

He said in an interview on the campus last Thursday that AMECO admitted students from almost every region in the country, creating a strong home of unity in ethnic diversity, not only on the campus, but in the Amedzofe town and other Avatime communities as well.

The heavy forests around AMECO, which provided an environmental grace and an intense serenity, Dr Tsey said, provided an ideal ambience for learning.

Meanwhile, malaria has been absent in Amedzofe and its neighbouring communities for more than two centuries as the mosquitoes which transmit the malaria parasite do not thrive in the cold weather.

The Osie of Avatime, Osie Adza Tekpor, has, however, expressed misgivings over the rising activities of chainsaw operators in the area in recent times, saying the wanton destruction of trees had now brought mosquitoes to the area.

He announced that the traditional authorities were in the process of setting up a task force to combat the activities of the unscrupulous chainsaw operators.