By Titilayo Kupoliyi

Lake Bosomtwe is an ancient meteoritic crater lake located in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.

Only one of six (6) meteoritic lakes in the world, Bosomtwe is the only natural lake in Ghana.

Its water provides livelihood for more than 50,000 people, majority of who are farmers.

Bosomtwe comes from two Twi words; bosom: god, otwi: antelope.

Lake Bosomtwe means Lake of the Antelope god.

According to report, Lake Bosomtwe was discovered in 1648 by a hunter called Akora Bompe.

On one of his hunting expeditions, Akora Bompe shot and injured an antelope. The injured animal fled the scene, and the hunter with his dog followed the animal’s bloody trail to a nearby lake. When he shot again, the antelope suddenly vanished into the lake, never to resurface.

Shocked, Akora Bompe decided that there was something mysterious about the lake. He believed the pond to be some god (bosom) that was generous enough to save the antelope (otwe).

The hunter caught fish from the lake and fed his dog. He reckoned that if the dog survived, then the fish would be wholesome to humans despite its strangeness.

When the dog didn’t die from eating fish from the strange lake, the hunter caught more and sent home to his family.

Later, Bompe went to report the mysterious encounter to the chief, narrating his ordeals with the antelope and the strange lake he had discovered.

The chief and his elders visited the lake and decided that it was a gift from the spirits.

And since it was an antelope that led them to it, they would name it after the animal; hence, Lake Bosomtwe: Lake of the Antelope god.

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp