Dambai is a city in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and the administrative capital of the newly created

Oti Region The Oti Region is one of the six newly created regions of Ghana in December 2018. The region was carved out of the northern part of the Volta Region and will be in fulfillment of a campaign promise made by New Patriotic Party. Prior to the 2016 G ...

Geography

Location

Dambai is the capital of the

. It is located on the eastern side of the

Oti River The Oti River or Pendjari River is an international river in West Africa. It rises in Benin, forms the border between Benin and Burkina Faso, flows through Togo, and joins the Volta River in Ghana. Geography The Oti River is about long. Its head ...

, a tributary of the

Volta Lake Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...

. It was declared the capital of the region which was carved out of the existing Volta Region. It was given the Legislative Instruments as capital by President Nana Akuffo Addo on 15th of February 2019 after it was chosen to be the capital. It is located in the heart of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) area.

Flora and fauna

The outskirts of Dambai contain wild animals such as

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s and

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

s, duikers, cobs, several marine and land snakes such as vipers, and pythons, and buffalo. Fish in the lake include tilapia, cat fish, Nile perch, electric fish, puff fish. There are several types of oysters and clams as well as several types of crocodiles including the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

Economy

The occupation of the inhabitants is

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

on the River Oti with few inhabitants being employed by

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

s of the district assembly and

teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely re ...

. Education The town has a teachers' training school,

Dambai College of Education Dambai College of Education is a teacher education college in Dambai (Krachi East District, Oti Region, Ghana).Björn Haßler, Jacob Tetteh Akunor, Enock Seth Nyamador (2017). An Atlas of The Forty Colleges of Education in Ghana. Available under ...

, and several

second cycle The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

schools. In 2013, another teacher training school and a nursing school, Aim Professional Training College and Mon Reve Institute, were established. The town has a number of senior high schools as well. They include Oti Senior High, Yabram Community Day Senior High and many others.

People and culture

Several tribes can be found in Dambai. The Nchumuru people are divided into 7 main clans: Kachenki, Susuro, Munkuri, Agyimbra, Abraman, Boyayi, and Wankanyaw. Other tribes are the Zabarama and Hausa who engage in trading, the Kotokoli, the Ewe and Ada who fish on the Oti River, the Konkomba and the Basari who are farmers, and several Fulanies can also be found raising cattle. The indigenous people observe the Kipor Day every 6 days. It is equivalent to the Jewish Sabbath: on this day no one is expected to go to farm or engage in activities deemed to be farming, and this is strictly enforced. Young people are placed on guard to arrest those who break this rule, who are made to pay fines of sheep or goat and liquor that are sacrificed to the ancestors. There is also the Fofie day, which falls on Friday. There are a lot of sacrifices to ancestors. The Dambai Nchumurus have one of the most elaborate dance forms. These are normally for funerals. Sukudai is a funeral dance for elders, particularly clan heads and famous hunters. There is also Mbofou for hunters when they kill big game. Nchuso, meaning water dance, is for the ordinary Nchumuru man or woman when they die. Atokoiatokoi is a dance for elderly women or headwomen of a clan.

References

{{coord, 08, 04, 08, N, 0, 10, 45, E, display=title Populated places in the Oti Region