Culture and Ethnic Diversity

The main ethnic group of the area is Ga-Adangbe. The dominant indigenous language spoken is Ga and it is a patrilineal society. The La people celebrate Homowo as their festival usually in the month of August every year. The meal for celebrating the festival is ‘Kpokpoi’ and palm soup. The main native food of the people is kenkey, fish and pepper (komi ke shito).

The La Mantse, also known as Nii La, is the paramount chief of the La Traditional Area and assisted by eight clan sub-chiefs in the Traditional administration of the Area. There are 77 family houses under the umbrella of eight clan houses, headed by sub-chiefs who represent their people in the traditional council. They also assist the paramount chief in the traditional administration of the Municipality. Figure 1.10 shows the religious characteristics.


Tourism and Natural Resource Utilisation

The growth of hospitality industries with other tourism related activities are the key areas of promoting tourism in the Municipality. The Municipality is blessed with natural resources such as the sea and the Kpeshie Lagoon. The coastal stretch has some hospitality industry facilities such as hotels, beaches, restaurants and clubs making the Municipality a great tourist destination.

The Municipality hosts one of the prominent 5 stars and 4 stars hotels in the Ghana. The La Palm Royal Beach and Labadi Beach Hotels are among one of the unique hospitality industries in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. Though most of the arable lands have been taken over by the construction of residential and other commercial structures, there are some vegetable farmers in the Municipality as well as fisher folks.

Though, the Municipality does not have a forest, it plays host to a cane weaving industry in Cantonments. During special occasions such as Easter, Christmas, Homowo Festival Celebrations, Independence Day Anniversary and Republic Day celebrations, most of these beaches are fully patronised. Again, there are visitors from the West African Sub-Region and other prominent Asian and European countries.

It is worth mentioning that, the presence of the Kotoka International Airport makes the Municipality the gateway to the country. The Municipality is also endowed with the rich festival which attracts foreign investors and the international community into the country. Most of these tourists are interested in the rich display of traditional culture amidst traditional dressing, dancing and drumming, the pouring of libation and the firing of musketry.