Travel Guide Wa

In Wa, capital of the upper western region with a population of around 100,000, you can admire the traditional Sudanese-style mosque, of the type usually found in Burkina Faso and Mali. South of Wa, on the road to Kumasi, there are other mosques dating back to the 16th century that are well worth a visit, notably in Sawla, Maluwe, Bole and Banda Nkwanta. The latter is reputed to be the oldest mosque in the region.Compared to the cities of southern Ghana, Wa looks like a fairly poor town. And this despite the presence of employees from other parts of the country. You get the feeling that you're a long way from Accra or even Tamale. This is because Wa has remained a large village, even if the administrative division has made it a regional capital. The town is home to the Wala ethnic group, who came from Mali to drive out the Lobi and convert the Dagarti to Islam, a religion that is quite prevalent in Wa.Tourists are few and far between here: apart from the Damba festival (birth of the Prophet Mohammed) and the first week of October - when Wa celebrates the Durbar festival, during which the richly-dressed king must straddle a cow or face execution - the town seems rather quiet.