Dakodwamu (Dakojom): Kumasi’s Kenkey Hub

You cannot arrogate to yourself the accolade of an ardent kenkey lover in the Ashanti regional capital if you have never stepped foot in Dakodwamu (Dakojom) which houses the biggest kenkey hub in Kumasi.

Kenkey though not a staple food of most people in the Ashanti Region, has managed to get a business hub in the region; a feat even Fufu cannot boast of.

The name for kenkey in the local parlance is ‘Dokono’and market is ‘Dwom’.

History has it that, once people realised that the area was a kenkey market where they could get all types of kenkey from, they named it Dokono Dwom which literally translates, ‘Kenkey Market’.

I found my curious self at this boutique of assorted kinds of Kenkey one good morning and was absolutely blown off my feet at the dazzle of what I saw.

One is most likely to get All types of Kenkey: talk of the Ga- Kenkey “Nkran Dokono”, Fante Kenkey “Nfante Dokono,” Sugar Kenkey “Esikyire dokono,” sifted Kenkey “Ntaw Dokono,” soya bean kenkey, you just name it.

The only kenkey you cannot find at Dakodwamu, I tell you is yet to be made.

There is no lazying around the place. It’s all busy women with their long barrels and cauldrons full of kenkey enough for feed residents of whole Kumasi and perhaps its environs.

From dawn to dusk, these industrious women with the ingredient love ,sweat, mix corn dough and other ingredients prepare what they know how to do best: Kenkey. It’s always kenkey business as usual.

They tell me they have customers all over the Ashanti Region.

People come to them for Kenkey for their weddings, parties, funerals and other occasions and even for individual consumption.

Arguably, they tell me kenkey here is one of the best and finest you can get in the country.

Well as the saying goes, “the proof of the pudding is in its eating”, I have just been served with Ga kenkey and Shito with one huge cassava fish.

Next time you find yourself in Kumasi; you might just want to pass by the Dakodwamu (Dokono dwam) in-between Ahodwo roundabout and the Santasi roundabout some few meters from the Afro Night Club. The experience and taste should add you to the list of disciples and evangelists of this spectacular market.

Theresa Oppong: Ivan Heathcote Korshie Fumador