Bawku Municipal Health Directorate, with Ghana Post GPS address as UA-0017-2069, is one of the fifteen in Upper East. The Municipality was originally created in 1988 as Bawku East District; established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1439. (L.I.) 1798 of 16th July 2004, took off Garu and Tempane Districts and making the district a Municipality. On 28 June 2012, (L.I 2144) took off Binduri and Pusiga Districts to have the Municipality as it is today, with Bawku as the capital town.

Bawku Municipality has a total land area of 247.24 sq.km and it is located approximately between latitudes 11.17” and 10.91” North and longitude 0.34” and 0.14” West in the North-Eastern corner of the Upper East Region. It shares boundaries with the Republic Burkina Faso to the North, Pusiga and Tempane Districts to the East, Garu District to the South and Binduri District to the West.

Goal

The development goal of the Bawku Municipal Assembly is to achieve a sustainable, equitable economic growth and improve quality of life of the people of Bawku through citizen participation and accelerated service delivery at the local level within a decentralized environment.

vision

To be a distinguished health care provider of choice, that meets and exceeds reasonable client expectations, by committed staff; making clients happier, healthier and wealthier; through the collaboration of all stakeholders.

Mission

To promote and sustain the Wellbeing of all, by providing accessible, safe, quality health services tailored towards the needs of all clients through the efficient implementation of approved health sector policies, with care, compassion, dignity and effective communication.

Demographic Information

The estimated population from 2021 census as of 2024 is 124,528 inhabitants. The sex distribution for all ages, put the females at 51.6%, with males representing a 48.4%. The urban population is 63.6% whiles the rural population constitutes 36.4%.

There are eighty-eight (88) communities in Seven (7) Sub-Municipalities; with an average household size in the municipality is 6.5 persons.

The population is made up of Kusaasis, Mamprusis, Bisas, Mossi, Hausas and settlers who are large immigrant populations from other locations in Ghana as well as from Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Niger and Nigeria.

Health Information

Bawku has a Presbyterian hospital serving as the Municipal Hospital. It belonged to Government until April 1954. There are three (3) Private Hospitals, two (2) Private Clinics, One (1) Private Eye Clinic, one (1) Maternity Home, four (4) Health Centres, and thirty-one (31) functional CHPS zones, of which fifteen (15) have permanently built structures.

There are four (4) Pharmacies, eighty-two (82) Licensed Over-The-Counter Medicine outlets, twenty-four (24) Herbal Medicine Practitioners, four (4) Laboratories, three (3) Traditional Birth Attendants, and two (2) Bone setters spread across the municipality.

Economy

Agriculture is the dominant occupation, accounting for about 47.0%. The major crops grown are millet, sorgum, maize, rice, groundnuts, leafy vegetables, pepper, watermelon, and onion. Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys etc. are also kept in the district.

Festivals

The Kusaasi celebrate Samanpid in December. Other festivals celebrated by other communities are the Zekula by the Bisa people, and Damba by the Mamprusis.

Relief And Drainage

The municipality is underlain mainly by Birrimian and granite rock formation. It is located at the highest point of the Upper East Region. In areas bordering the basins of the White Volta River and its tributaries, the relief is generally low and slightly undulating with heights of 120-150 metres above sea level. The rest of the municipality consists of a series of plateau surfaces. This being remnants of prolonged periods of weathering and erosion of the scattered hills. The average height of the plateau is 400 metres above sea level, but isolated peaks rise beyond 430 metres as in the case of Zawse hills. Outcrops of rocks are also found in many areas.

Climate

As with the whole of the Upper East Region, the Bawku Municipality is part of the interior continental climatic zone of the country characterized by pronounced dry and wet seasons. The two seasons are influenced by two oscillating air masses. First is the warm, dusty and dry harmattan air mass, which blows from the north easterly direction across the whole municipality from the Sahara Desert.