by up to 3 points at daytime and drop further at night, making the weather in Kwahu relatively cooler and more pleasant. The Afram River collects the major drainage of the Plateau and makes an impressive 100 km journey from Sekyere in Ashanti through Kwahu as a tributary to join the Volta Lake. Canoe fishing by is big business along the vast shoreline and beyond the smaller expanse of water stretch, the fertile grounds of the plains open into a huge agricultural paradise that is unquestionably one of Ghana's bread baskets. Health Kwahu Government Hospital Language and culture The term Kwahu also refers to the variant of Akan language spoken in this region by approximately 1,000,000 native speakers. Except for a few variations in stress, pronunciation, and syntax, there are no markers in the dialect of Akan spoken by the Kwahu versus their Ashanti or Akyem neighbors. Choice of words and names are pronounced closer to Akuapem Twi as in 1-Mukaase (Kitchen), 2-Afua (a girl's given day name for Friday), 3-Mankani (Cocoyam), etc. but not with the Akuapem tonation or accent. These three examples can quickly indicate the speaker's origin or source influence: Ashanti speakers would say Gyaade, Afia and Menkei for 1-3 above. Originally of Ashanti stock, oral history details the two-phased migration of the Kwahu from the Sekyere-Efidwase-Mampong ancestral lands through Asante-Akyem Hwidiem to arrive at Ankaase, which is today near the traditional capital of Abene, before spreading out on other settlements with clan members from peripheral Akyem and various parts of the Ashanti heartland. The group that first settled at Abene was led by (M)Ampong Agyei, who is accepted as the Founder of Kwahu. Historical material supports this view that connects the Kwahu to kinsmen who built their capital at Oda. The fallout with Frimpong Manso, Chief of Akyem (Oda) triggered a second wave of migration, believed to have resulted from the refusal of Kwahu to swear an oath of allegiance, making them de facto subjects, upon arrival at Hwidiem. Unsuccessful incursions by the Oda Chief Atefa into Kwahu territory on the plateau would subsequently earn him the title "Okofrobour": one who takes the battle to the mountains. The jagged escarpment, however, made Kwahu inaccessible, hence the old humor meme Asaase Aban, signifying a naturally fortified and indestructible Kwahu Country. If Ashanti Twi is by and large the refined language standard, it is appropriate to view Kwahu