Winneba
Coordinates: 5 ° 21 ′ N , 0 ° 38 ′ W
Winneba is a historic coastal city of around 45,000 people in the Central Region of Ghana in West Africa . The city is located about 60 km west of the capital Accra and like many coastal towns of Ghana still a Akannamen : Simpa . The inhabitants of the place are therefore also called Simpafo and mainly belong to the Akan people of the Effutu . Winneba is also the capital of the Awutu / Effutu / Senya district in the Central Region . The name Winneba is derived from 'windy bay' and was pronounced and introduced according to the local dialect.
economy
Fishing and pottery are the main branches of Winneba's production. In the colonial times (see Gold Coast ) the place was also an important port city, but lost this importance after the construction of the port of Takoradi in 1920. Agricultural chicken farming is worth mentioning here and tourism is gradually gaining ground due to its proximity to Accra and because of Winneba's kilometer-long sandy beaches in importance.
culture and education
Winneba is the seat of a university (the University College of Winneba ) and has the only sports college in the country. The so-called Aboakyer Hunting Festival is known beyond Ghana, where an antelope has to be caught with bare hands in the nearby game reserve. Recently, however, this traditional festival has been overtaken by the carnival-like New Year Fancy Dress Carnival, which was not created until 1920 under European influence .
history
Winneba was founded by Osimpan Bondzie Abe around 1400 . At the end of the 19th century it belonged to the short-lived Fantifederation . From 1632 there was a British trading post here; which was given up again in 1644 at the latest; In 1694 the British built a fort; which they gave up and blew up in 1812. During the Ashanti invasion of 1811, the British did not offer any resistance in the fort. The then commandant of the fort, Henry Meredith , was subsequently charged with unlawfully appropriating gold entrusted to him by people of Winneba during the invasion. He was captured, ill-treated, and then chased through burning grass and underbrush naked in February 1812 until he finally died. Then the residents of Vinneba besieged the fort until the successor of the killed commander saw no other way out than to evacuate the fort and blow it up. For a long time afterwards, British ships fired a broadside as they passed the roadstead of Winneba in retaliation for the killed whites. A church was built on the same site in the 19th century.
religion
The first Christian institution in Winneba was a branch of the Methodist Society in 1883. In the 1970s there were 30 Adventist (or healing or spiritualist) churches in the city alone, and the Adventist Musama Disco Christo Church was already successful here in the 1930s .
Famous pepole
- Jacob Plange-Rhule (1957-2020), medical professor
- Alex Quaison-Sackey
literature
- Wyllie, Robert W. (1974) 'Pastors and prophets in Winneba, Ghana: their social background and career development', Africa, 44, 2, 186-193.
- Wyllie, Robert W. (1980) The spirit-seekers: new religious movements in southern Ghana (Studies in religion, no.21). Missoula, MT: Scholars Press.
- Wyllie, Robert W. (1985) 'The christ revival church: a short-lived secession in Winneba', Research Review, Institute of African Studies, 1, 2, 174-179.
- Kwesi Ewusi Brown, “Social Conflicts in Contemporary Effutu Festivals” , 2005, Masters Thesis for Bowling Green State University.
- Van Dantzig, Forts and Castles of Ghana, Accra 1970
