Apam

Apam is a coastal town on the Gulf of Guinea in the Central Region of Ghana and the capital of the Gomoa West District, roughly 45 kilometres east of the regional capital, Cape Coast. Its fishing harbour is overlooked by Fort Lijdzaamheid, also called Fort Patience, a Dutch fort completed in 1702 on a rocky peninsula at the south of the town. Apam was a major port before independence, but shipping there was stopped once the harbour at Tema was built, and the town now lives mainly from fishing and from salt won from the Benya Lagoon. It is a principal town of the Gomoa Akyempem Paramountcy, and its Akwambo festival, meaning path clearing, is held each September by the chiefs and people of Gomoa Apam. Traditional life is organised around two asafo companies, Tuafo and Denstifo, each led by a captain.