Unforgettable Avatime-Vane

The beautiful and serene town of Avatime-Vane (Vane for short) is the capital of the Avatime Traditional Area in the Ho West District of the Volta Region.

The heavy and immaculately white blankets of fog at Vane in the morning, the captivating and changing cloud formations in the afternoon, tranquility and cold temperatures at night, and the surrounding and thrilling scenic beauty, make Vane an ideal place to visit all year round.

Lying majestically in the heart of the Avatime Mountains with dense green vegetative cover and an autumnal temperature, Vane is a strikingly clean town with very friendly and well-educated people.

Everyone at Vane speaks Avatime, Ewe and English and that polyglot status of the people is another asset for tourism promotion in Vane, the Osie (Paramount Chief) of Avatime, Adza Tekpor VII, said.

According to Osie Tekpor, the people of Vane and the rest of Avatime migrated from Ahanta, together with their kinsmen who are now the people of Agotime in the Volta Region and Togo, in the 15th century.

Their choice of Vane (meaning never forgetting) was based on their love for mountainous areas, which made them stop over at Kormantse-Abandze in the Central Region, the hilly area of Legon, and then to Tanyigbe, before their present place of abode.

Giants

On arrival in the Avatime enclave, the people of Vane met a tribe of giants who were known to kill their perceived enemies by severely squeezing and crushing their heads.

“But we used tactics and spirituality to subdue them,” Osie Tekpor said.

During a visit to the town on July 7, 2023, Osie Tekpor told the Daily Graphic that for many years, the people of Vane took advantage of the cold weather and the fertile nature of the slopes of the mountains to grow apples, grapes, passion fruits, Irish potatoes and various fruits in abundance, in addition to their cherished ‘amu’ (brown rice).

Later, the German missionaries also encouraged them to produce vegetables and other foodstuff, including cassava and yam, a trend maintained with utmost seriousness over the centuries, making Vane a food basket today.

Avatime-Vane in the morning

The strong influence of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, since the middle of the 19th century is evident in the many scholars, doctors, judges, teachers, engineers, administrators, entrepreneurs, lawyers, journalists, financial analysts, minsters of religion, and university lectures of great substance Vane has produced for the country.

In Vane also, every household has at least one decent toilet and so there is no such thing as open urination and defecation.

“Vane was identified as the cleanest town in Ghana 60 years ago, and we still do not need Zoomlion or any waste management group in Vane because we manage our own waste as part of our culture” Osie Tekpor said.

No crime, no malaria

Clean Vane is also known as the town where there is no crime.

According to Osie Tekpor, anyone who came to Vane to steal from the people or their farms was not likely to live long enough to enjoy the booty, even if he or she managed to flee the town.

Mosquitoes do not thrive in cold weather, and so malaria is rare.

The Osie said the few mosquitoes spotted in Vane and other parts of Avatime in recent times was the result of the activities of unscrupulous chain saw operators who cut trees covertly in the forests on the mountains.

“So, we have taken a firm stance to fight them ferociously and treat all those attacking our well-preserved environment as mass murderers,” he warned.

Some non-natives, mostly teachers who spoke with the Daily Graphic said the cold weather and heavy forest around Vane made the serene environment of Vane ideal for teaching and learning, and made Vane a preferred retirement home.

A farmer, who only gave his name as Kodzo said Vane would even be more glorious if farmers were resourced to resume the cultivation of potatoes, grapes and apples on a commercial scale.