Abomosu – A Town built by the riverside

In the mid-1800s, some members of the Akan Bretuo Clan were inhabiting a thick forest near Anyimam in the Akyem Abuakwa Kingdom.

The inhabitants, mostly farmers and hunters, had difficulty in accessing water until a hunter, one Nana Ameyaw, on a hunting expedition, found a river in a thicket, about 80 kilometres away from where they were initially inhabiting.

The river, which never dried up, was then serving as a source of drinking water for birds and animals in the forest.

Delighted at the find, Nana Ameyaw, the hunter, hurriedly went back to inform his kinsmen and women, led by an old lady, Nana Pomaa.

Visit to river

To ascertain the truth, Nana Pomaa accompanied the hunter to the river, after which the inhabitants started fetching water from it.

Nana Konadu Kontie II, the queenmother of Abomosu-Pomaase

Each period or day that the people trekked to the riverside to fetch water, they left a message behind that they were going to the hunter (ƆbƆmƆfo in Akan) river, hence the name Abomosu, a corrupted version of ƆbƆmƆfo river.

It is also believed that the town got its name from the river Abomosu or Amosu, as it joins the River Birim.

As time went by, all those living in the initial place moved to settle along the banks of the river, particularly at the spot where the hunter first drank from it.

Later, Nana Pomaa's name was attached to Abomosu to read Abomosu-Pomaase, which has now become the traditional headquarters of the Bretuo Clan in the area, with other members living in towns such as Anyinam, Asamama, Asunafo and Sankubenase.

Big town

Abomosu - Pomaase, which is now a big town in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region, is inhabited mainly by farmers cultivating crops such as maize, cassava, plantain, with cocoa as the main crop.

There are also a few others, mostly women engaged in petty trading.

The town also boasts of a primary, junior and senior high school – the Abomosu SHS, now a well-resourced science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) institution, one of the best in the Eastern Region.

In an exclusive interview with the queenmother of the town, Nana Konadu Kontie II, she said the town had expanded with almost all the basic necessities of life such as potable water, clinic, schools, market and motorable roads.

She indicated that the major problem confronting the town had been the activities of illegal miners polluting water bodies and degrading farmlands.

That, Nana Kontie stated, was making life unbearable for the people of the town and its surrounding communities.

The queenmother has, therefore, called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, be proactive in the fight against illegal mining because it has been their major problem.

Writer's email: haruna.wunpini@graphic.com.gh