Biriwa

Biriwa
Town
Biriwa skyline and Fishing Area
Country	Ghana
Region	Central Region
District	Mfantsiman Municipal District
Capital	Saltpond
Population (2011)
• Total	7,000-10,000
Time zone	GMT

Biriwa is a town of Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region of Ghana. In 2011, the town had a population between 7,000 and 10,000. The main occupation is fishing, with a few people engaged in farming. It is a traditional setting which celebrates the Okyir festival every October. The current chief of the town, Nana Kwabonko V, resides in Saltpond.

Historically, the land is believed to have been discovered by a Hausa man called Kwaana Abrodu. The place was in the forest zone, so this gave the man the opportunity to engage in tree felling and charcoal production, which in Fante is called biriw. A woman also settled on the land and started the same occupation. As the land began to develop, the people thought it wise to give the name Biriwa (biriw wo ha – charcoal is here) to the town. A woman named Nana Adwoa Enyimah is believed to have been the first Queen mother of the town.

After these settlers, the Adwenadze family came to settle and was followed by the Twidan family. But the Adwenadzes were ruled by the people of Aketekyiwa, a town near Biriwa, who passed laws for them which affected the Twidan settlers of the town. So the Twidan settlers decided to stop the Aketekyiwas from passing those laws. They also came to Biriwa to light fires and make noise whenever they were celebrating their festival and that disturbed the peace of Biriwa. So whenever the Aketekyiwas come to light these fires, a group called Biriwa Toafo will go with their drum, Akroma, to the grounds to quench the fire. They would then beat the drum to indicate the action performed, that is, the quenching of the fire. The people of Aketekyiwa then decided to fight with Biriwaman. The Biriwa Toafo then made a statue with nine heads which they named etu anaa ehira which was placed in front of the famous pusuban. On the day of the battle, Biriwaman were able to defeat the Aketekyiwas on the famous battle ground; Sumandabi anum in Biriwa.

Later, the Hausas also came to claim the land saying they were the founders. This culminated in a battle between these two factions and the Hausas were defeated. The land is currently ruled by the Adwenadze family and it is believed that the Twidan family will forever rule the land after the Adwenadze family has lost the throne. A man called Nana Sarh is believed to have introduced fishing to the townfolk. From then onwards fishing became the main occupation of the town to date.

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Wikipedia