Volta Region will have peaceful elections - Dr Letsa assures British envoys

Adequate security measures are in place to ensure peace prevails along the frontier between the Volta Region and Togo before, during and after the forthcoming general election, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has affirmed.

“We have taken the necessary steps to maintain law and order in all the 18 districts and municipalities in the region during the period,” he further said.

Dr Letsa said this when a delegation from the British High Commission in Accra called on him at his office in Ho last Thursday to confer with him on pre-election dynamics in the region.

The regional minister said the Volta Region was one of the most peaceful regions in the country, although there were pockets of chieftaincy disputes.

However, he said the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) was working around the clock with the security agencies and the National Peace Council to rid the region of those discords.

Cross border

Dr Letsa said the main election concerns of the RCC were the numerous unmapped routes between the region and Togo and the possible interference of some people in the electoral process from across the border.

The Chief Director of the RCC, Augustus Awity, said most people in Togo had relatives in Ghana, adding some people in Togo were registered voters in Ghana.

That issue was being looked into meticulously by the Election Security Committee to ensure that no miscreant disrupted the electoral process, he said. On commercial opportunities, Mr Awity said the region was now the leading rice producer in Ghana.

However, he said, most of the harvested rice did not have ready markets.

On tourism, the chief director said the region was endowed with river bodies, beautiful landscapes and clean which were natural features for attracting visitors from far and near.

Mr Awity touched on the floods that hit the Tongu districts last year and said the deluge had robbed most farmers of their livelihoods and caused terrible sanitation issues for the people who were yet to recover fully from the disaster.

The floods also had damaged the roads in the affected districts, he told the delegation. “There is no illegal mining taking place in the Volta Region,” Mr Awity confirmed.

The Head of Political and Governance of the British High Commission, Aneesah Islam, said the visit was also to identify commercial opportunities in the region and link them up with companies in the United Kingdom (UK).

She said the UK placed importance on the Volta Region and that was evident in the relief items it gave the three Tongu districts during last year’s floods caused by the spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong dams.

Other members of the delegation included the First Secretary, Elections; Dominic Howell and Political Officer, Cecil Sampson.

Present was the Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Andrews Boadu-Ekumah.