The Accra Metropolitan District is one of the 254 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts in Ghana, and among the 29 such districts in the Greater Accra Region with a population of 284,124 as of 2021. As of March 2018, it spans an area of approximately and encompasses the Ablekuma South, Ashiedu Keteke, and Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan district councils.Prior to the elevation of sub-metropolitan district councils into independent municipal districts in March 2018, the Accra Metropolitan District spanned an area of and encompassed 10 sub-metropolitan councils: Ayawaso West, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso East, Okaikoi North, Okaikoi South, Ablekuma North, Ablekuma Central, Ablekuma South, Osu Klottey, and Ashiedu Keteke.
The district was established by the Local Government Act of 1993 (Act 462) and Legislative Instrument 1615. The local authority of the district, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, is currently headed by Mohammed Adjei Sowah, who was appointed by the President of the Republic of Ghana in 2017 as the Metropolitan Chief Executive and serves as the political head of the district and mayor of the City of Accra.
Since 1961, the district has been coterminous with the City of Accra, which also serves as its capital. Today, the Accra Metropolitan District is one of the 10 districts that make up the Accra Metropolitan Area, an area that serves as the capital of Ghana.
Administratively, the district is one of the 21 local authority districts of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, which include Ga South Municipal District, Ga Central Municipal District, Ga West Municipal District, Ga East Municipal District, Ga North Municipal District, Weija Gbawe Municipal District, La Dade Kotopon Municipal District, Ledzokuku Municipal District, Krowor Municipal District, Okaikwei North Municipal District, Ablekuma North Municipal District, Ablekuma West Municipal District, Ayawaso East Municipal District, Ayawaso North Municipal District, Ayawaso West Municipal District, Adentan Municipal District, Tema Metropolitan District, Tema West Municipal District, Ashaiman Municipal District, La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal District, and Kpone Katamanso Municipal District.
Administrative Chronology Since 1988, it was originally created as a metropolitan district assembly. However over the years, many former sub-metropolitan district councils had elevated into independent municipal district assemblies:
29 February 2008: the far eastern part of the district was split off to create Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District (capital: Teshie-Nungua); which was split off into two new municipal districts on 15 March 2018: Ledzokuku Municipal District (capital: Teshie-Nungua) and Krowor Municipal District (capital: Nungua) 28 June 2012: the eastern part of the district was split off to create La Dade Kotopon Municipal District (capital) 15 March 2018: six parts of the district was split off to create the following: Ablekuma North Municipal District, Ablekuma West Municipal District, Ayawaso East Municipal District, Ayawaso North Municipal District, Ayawaso West Municipal District and Okaikwei North Municipal District 19 February 2019: three parts of the district was split off to create the following: Ablekuma Central Municipal District, Ayawaso Central Municipal District and Korle-Klottey Municipal District
History Since its establishment, the Accra Metropolitan District has gone through numerous changes with respect to jurisdictional boundaries and number of sub-metropolitan district councils.
Under the local government arrangements when the Accra city council was created in 1953, six area councils were established namely Ablekuma, Ashiedu Keteke, Ayawaso, Okaikoi, Osu Klotey and Kpeshie (which comprised Teshie, Nungua and La). This system operated until 18 March 1989 when Accra was elevated to metropolitan district status and the area councils became sub-metropolitan district councils under Legislative Instrument 1500 of the new Local Government System (PNDCL 207) Act 462.
In 2003, part of the first schedule of the Accra Metropolitan Legislative Instrument of 1995 (LI 161) was amended and replaced with Legislative Instrument 1722 of 2003 which led to the creation of 7 more sub-metropolitan districts out of the existing six. The Kpeshie sub-metropolitan district was split into the Nungua, Teshie and La sub-metropolitan districts; the Ablekuma sub-metropolitan district was split into the Ablekuma North, Ablekuma Central, and Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan districts; the Ayawaso sub-metropolitan district was split into the Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso East, and Ayawaso West sub-metropolitan districts; and the Okaikoi sub-metropolitan district was split into the Okaikoi North and Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan districts. This intervention was informed by the need to break up the metropolitan district into smaller sectors to facilitate good governance.
In 2007, to promote efficiency in the administrative machinery and also meet the ever pressing demands for amenities and essential services, the Teshie and Nungua sub-metropolitan districts were merged and upgraded to municipal Status in 2007 as the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal District under Legislative Instrument 1865. Later, in 2012, the La sub-metropolitan district was carved out of the Accra Metropolitan District to form the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal District under Legislative Instrument 2038,
In November 2017, the government laid before Parliament Legislative Instruments (LI) which elevated the Ablekuma North sub-metropolitan district to municipal status as the Ablekuma North Municipal Assembly and carved out the western part of the Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan district to form the Ablekuma West Municipal Assembly. Additionally, the Ayawaso West, Ayawaso East, and part of the Ayawaso Central sub-metropolitan districts were carved out of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to form the Ayawaso North, Ayawaso East and Ayawaso West Municipal Assemblies. The Okaikoi North sub-metropolitan district was also elevated to municipal status as the Okaikoi North Municipal Assembly.
Administrative Area
The Accra Metropolitan district covers a total land area of . It is bounded to the north by the Ayawaso West Municipal district and Okaikoi North Municipal district, to the west by the Ablekuma West Municipal district and Ablekuma North Municipal district, and to the east by the Ayawaso East Municipal district and the La Dade Kotopon Municipal district. The Gulf of Guinea serves as the southern border.
Sub-Metropolitan Districts Ablekuma South Sub-Metropolitan District The Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan district covers a total land area of approximately . It shares boundaries with the Ablekuma West Municipal District to the west, Ablekuma Central sub-metropolitan district to the north, and Ashiedu Keteke sub-metropolitan district to the east.
Some of the communities within the sub-metropolitan district include: Korle Gonno Korle-Bu Chorkor Mamprobi New Mamprobi
Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metropolitan District The Ashiedu Keteke sub-metropolitan district covers a total land area of approximately . It is bounded to the north by Ablekuma Central sub-metropolitan district, to the west by Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan district, to the east by Osu Klottey sub-metropolitan district, and to the south by the Gulf of Guinea. The sub-metropolitan district houses the Central Business District (CBD) and as such the hub of major commercial activities within the City of Accra.
The 2010 population and housing census estimated the population of the sub-metropolitan district at 117,525 with 13,732 houses and 34,964 households. Using the Greater Accra Growth Rate of 3.1%, it is estimated that the 2018 population stands at 143,768.
Some of the communities within the sub-metropolitan district include: Jamestown Usshertown Tudu Okaishie Central Business District
Okaikoi South Sub-Metropolitan District The Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan district shares boundaries with Okaikoi North Municipal District to the North, Osu Klottey sub-metropolitan district to the South, Ablekuma Central sub-metropolitan district to the West, and Ayawaso Central sub-metropolitan district to the East.
The 2010 population and housing census estimated the population of the sub-metropolitan district at 121,718 with 13,378 houses and 34,800 households. Using the Greater Accra Growth Rate of 3.1%, it is estimated that the 2018 population stands at 148,897.
Some of the communities within the sub-metropolitan district include: Bubuashie Kaneshie North Kaneshie Awudome Avenor
Electoral Areas The Accra Metropolitan Assembly is made up of 20 electoral areas covering three constituencies.
Ablekuma South Constituency The Ablekuma South constituency falls within the Ablekuma South sub-metropolitan district and includes five (5) electoral areas: Korle Gonno Korlebu Chorkor Mamprobi New Mamprobi
Odododiodioo Constituency The Odododiodioo constituency falls within the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metropolitan district and includes seven (7) electoral areas: Ngleshie Mudor Kinka Nmlitsagonno Amamomo Korle Wonkon Korle Dudor
Okaikoi South Constituency
The Okaikoi South constituency falls within the Okaikoi South sub-metropolitan district and includes eight (8) electoral areas: The current member of parliament for the Okaikoi South constituency is Hon. Dakoa Newman of the New Patriotic Party. Awudome Goten Kaatsean Mukose Bubuashie Bubui Avenor Kaneshie
Demographics At the 2010 census, there were 1,665,086 people residing in the district. Out of the total population, about 47% were migrants (born elsewhere in the Greater Accra Region or other regions in Ghana or outside Ghana), with people born in the Eastern Region but resident in the district constituting 27.8% of the migrant population.
The total number of households in the district stood at 501,903 households, out of which 450,794 households lived in the 149,789 houses within the district The average household size in the district is 3.7 persons per household and the population per house is estimated at 11.1, indicating that compound houses are the most common type of dwelling (67.7%) within the district.
38.4% of the population were under the age of 19, 12.4% between 20 and 24, 11.5% between 25 and 29, 21.5% between 30 and 44, 12.2% between 45 and 64, and 4% age 65 and over. For every 100 females, there were about 93 males.
Governance The Accra Metropolitan district is administered by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, which is the political and administrative authority for the City of Accra. Structurally, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is made up of the General Assembly at the apex and six (6) sub-metropolitan district councils representing each of the six sub-metropolitan districts, which are subordinate bodies of the Assembly performing functions assigned or delegated to them by the Assembly.The History of the AssemblyAMA
The General Assembly, whose meetings are presided over by the Presiding Member, is composed of 21 elected members, 14 government appointees, 3 Members of Parliament, and the Metropolitan Chief Executive (mayor), who also chairs the Executive Committee. The General Assembly meetings are presided over by the Presiding Member.
Assembly Members