Jaman North District Profile

The Jaman North District (JND), established in 2004 by L.I.1779, was separated from the former Jaman District and inaugurated on the 19th August, 2004, with Sampa as the district capital.

Location and Size

The JND shares local boundaries with Tain District to the north- east, Jaman South District to the south and Berekum District to the south-east. Internationally, it shares borders with La Cote D’Ivoire to the north-west. It has a total land size of about 502 square kilometers (km2).

Topography and Drainage

The district has relatively very gentle slopes ranging from 1-5 gradients with few isolated hilly areas. It is under laid by Birimiam, Buem and Dahomeyam rocks. The Birimiam are the mineral bearing rocks. Untapped minerals include Gold, Diamond and Clay at Bonakire, Adadiem and Kokosua. The major rivers are Tain and Asikasum whilst a number of minor streams abound.

Climate and Vegetation

Lying within the equatorial region, the district experiences a mean annual rainfall ranging from 1200mm to 1780mm. Relative humidity is generally high (70-80%) during rainy season (April to October). Average annual temperature is about 26 degrees Celsius. The district is characterized with 2 ecological zones. The major natural vegetation is the savanna woodland consisting of widely dispersed short trees and elephant grasses/shrubs. This covers about 70% of the land area. This area is for the cultivation of cashew, yam, rice and groundnut. The semideciduous forest also consists of secondary vegetation with few original species of Odum, Wawa and Mahogany.

Environmental Situations

With the district falling under two (2) vegetation cover, it is facing threat of serious devastation by human and animal population pressures (housing, crop farming grazing etc) and timber extraction. It is evident that the pressure will hasten the devastation of the valuable environmental resources if calculated steps are not taken to combat it. There is currently no forest reserve in the district. However, there are isolated sacred and reserved places around water bodies and shrines.

Demography

The district has population of 126248 projection from the 2021 census, with annual growth rate of 2.5%.

Population distribution by sub-district

Health

There are six sub-districts in the Jaman North District namely Duadaso, Goka, Seketia, Suma, Sampa and Adadiem. There are forty-Six communities, which is zone into twenty-seven CHPS Zones. The health facilities provide both curative and preventive services to the populates. Sampa Government Hospital serve as the major referral centre for the health centres and CHPS Compounds as well as Fountain Care Hospital for Paediatric cases. The hospital also serves the health needs of residents of Sampa and nationals from adjoining towns of neighbouring La Cote D’Ivoire. Complementing the health delivery efforts of the health institutions are fifty – four (54) licensed chemical shops distributed across the district.

Health Facilities in the district

Sub-district distribution of Health facilities by type

Educational Fcilities

The educational institutions in the district include pre-schools, basic and secondary/technical institutions. The table below provides details on the existing

Housing Conditions

As housing delivery is mainly through individual efforts, the rate of population increase has outstripped housing development leading to high occupancy rate of between 4–5 people per habitable room. Increasing number of developers are using blocks and iron sheets in developing their houses, a significant number of mud houses with thatched roofs are still found in major urban towns like Sampa, Goka, Duadaso and Jamera.

Water

The district generally has of potable water supply with some few communities experiencing water shortage during the dry season. However, Sampa, the district capital has reliable water supply as it depends on the small-Town Water supply project, a mechanized borehole and a number of hand-dug wells. The situation is similar in a number of communities which also depend on boreholes.

Roads

The district has a good network of roads, but the nature of the roads is very poor making transportation very uncomfortable, time consuming and costly as a result of frequent maintenance required. The district has no single tarred road which leaves most of the roads developing potholes in the rainy season and becoming dusty during the dry season.

Electricity

Electricity supply has improved in the district. All towns and villages enjoy electricity and almost 90% households supplied from the national grade.

Ethnicity

The Bonos form majority of the population consisting of about 65% of the entire population with the Nafanas (Nfantra) accounting for about 30%. Other minor ethnic groups constitute about 5%.

Religious Groups

The major religions in the district are Christianity (about 80%) and Islam (about 15%) with few Traditional worshipers (about 5%).

Economic Activities

The inhabitants are predominantly farmers who cultivate cashew locally and other food crops. Some are also small-scale miners, cashew buyers come from December – June to buy the cashew which give a lot of employment to the youth, food vendors and other traders. There is also cross border trade between Sampa and some districts in La Cote D’Ivoire.

Human Resource Management

Human Resource, the most important resource. The backbone of every organization is its Human Resource. It is the number one asset that determines whether or not the target or mission of an organization would be accomplished. It takes the right Caliber of Human Resource with the requisite skills and attitude plus all other resources to attain what an organization is aiming at. For this reason, the Ghana Health Service is not an exception.

1.17 HR Issues During The Period Under Review

❖ High rate of staff requesting for inter- regional/district posting

❖ Lack or inadequate staff especially Physician Assistants, Staff Nurses and Midwives

❖ Resistance of posting reviews by new entrants

❖ High dependence on casual workers for the provision of some services.

❖ Unplanned annual leave schedules

❖ Lack of staff accommodation at both the directorate and sub-district level.

1.18 Interventions Initiated To Address The Issues

❖ Collaborated with the RHD & SGH for the release of one physician assistant for Seketia H/C.

❖ Secured additional services of casual workers

❖ Worked very hard to address welfare issues such as Salaries, promotions, study leave conversion, upgrading etc.

❖ Made series of request for Midwives, staff nurses and others to the Region Health Directorate.

Human Resource Development And Retention