In the early days, Ghana’s capital city used to be in Cape Coast, a place in the Central region. However, things have changed, and now the capital is in Accra, which is in the Greater Accra region. You might be wondering why this change happened. Don’t worry, we’ll explain it in simple terms.
Back in 1877, there was a war called the second Anlo-Asante War. After this war, Accra became the new capital instead of Cape Coast. One of the reasons was that Accra had a different kind of weather compared to Cape Coast. It was drier, which means it didn’t rain as much. Another important reason was the tsetse fly. This fly was a problem in Cape Coast, but not in Accra. The tsetse fly was harmful to the white people living there. So, Accra was a better place for them because they didn’t have to worry about this fly.
Accra also had something special that helped with transportation. In those times, moving things around was not easy, and they needed animals to help carry things. Accra was good for this because it didn’t have the tsetse fly problem. This made it easier to use animals for transportation.
A man named Sir Frederick Gorden Guggisburg made a big difference in Accra. He was a surveyor, a soldier, and a leader. He became the governor and commander-in-chief of the Gold Coast, which is what Ghana used to be called. He had a plan to develop the country in a way that would help the local people. He did many important things. He made places where trees were protected so that the soil wouldn’t get washed away. He improved how water flowed in the city.
Because of him, Accra became a great place with clean streets, parks, and places for people to do business. People even called the Gold Coast a model colony, and Accra was the most successful city in Africa. It had good streets, parks, schools, and a railway that connected Accra to Kumasi.
When Ghana became its own country in 1957, Accra was still looking good. It had schools, parks, water, and electricity. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the president, and he made sure Accra stayed clean. He also made sure there were good rules in place, and people had to ask for permission before building new things. This kept the city organized and tidy.
