Settlements and Transportation Network
The Bekwai Municipal Assembly has over 116 dispersed settlements with a few concentrated in the central part of the Municipality and along the Kumasi-Obuasi road and Bekwai-Cape Coast road. This has come about as a result of the agrarian form of the local economy which demands large tract of land for farming purposes. Apart from Bekwai, Poano, Dominase, Ofoase-Kokoben, Kokofu, Koniyaw and Boni which have population above 5000, the rest of the settlements have population sizes below 5,000.
Road transportation has been the dominant means of transportation in the Municipality. It plays an important role by facilitating the movement of goods and services to and from the Municipality. The Assembly has reshaped some of the feeder roads in the Municipality with the help of the Assembly’s grader. The reshaped road has brought respite to the people in the communities where drivers could not ply the roads because of their deplorable nature. Farm produce can now also be transported to nearby market center reducing post –harvest losses and increase the incomes of peasant farmers.
Physical development and control in the Municipality poses problems for development. Most of the settlements are not planned and do not have proper settlement layouts. The uncontrolled nature of some settlements always creates land disputes and litigations between the traditional authorities involved. In the urban and peri-urban towns such as Bekwai, Kokofu, Essumeja, Poano and Anwiankwanta, the competing nature of demand for land for agriculture and housing development have led to rapid increases in land prices. With respect to towns along the Kumasi-Bekwai road a linear form of settlement development is emanating to take advantage of the growing trade and other businesses along the road. This, people do by creating satellite markets, building fuel stations and food joints etc. along the sides of the road.
