Brong Ahafo to be known as Bono Region

Following the creation of the Bono East and the Ahafo regions, what is left of the former Brong Ahafo Region has been named the Bono Region, with Sunyani retained as the capital.

However, the remaining parts of the former Northern, Western and Volta regions will maintain their old names because the names of the new regions created in those areas do not affect the old names.

The Minister of Regional Reorganisation and Development, Mr Dan Botwe, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the Attorney-General would soon trigger the constitutional process to give legal backing to the names.

The administrative areas of the Bono Region consist of the Sunyani municipality, the Sunyani West District, the Berekum municipality, the Dormaa municipality, the Dormaa East District, the Dormaa West District, the Jaman South municipality, the Jaman West District and the Jaman North District.

Last Wednesday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presented the Constitutional Instruments (CIs) for the creation of the Bono East and the Ahafo regions to their representatives at separate ceremonies at the Jubilee House.

That meant that the Brong Ahafo Region, which was the second biggest region in the country, covering an area of 39,557 square kilometres, no longer exists.

No imposition

Mr Botwe said the name Bono Region was not an imposition by the government.

He explained that it was proposed by the chiefs and opinion leaders of the area during the public hearings of the Commission of Enquiry into the creation of new regions.

“Once the chiefs suggested the name and it was accepted by the Commission of Enquiry, it provided enough grounds for it to be adopted.

“So, henceforth, the remaining part of the Brong Ahafo Region is known as the Bono Region,” the minister said.

Justifying why the name was given, he said once Ahafo was taken off and Bono East was also off, there was no reason maintaining the name Brong Ahafo Region.

“Yes, the name of the region has to change and the Attorney-General will soon initiate action to have the old name amended to give legal backing to the new name,” he said.

Remaining regions

For the Western, Volta and Northern regions, Mr Botwe said there was no reason to change the names because the names given to the new regions did not affect the old names.

“Northern Region will still be Northern Region because the names of the new regions created out of it, Savannah and North East, do not affect it. In the same way, Western Region wil remain Western Region because the new region, Western North, does not affect it, and Volta Region will remain Volta Region, since the Oti Region will not affect the name,” Mr Botwe said.

Development

The last two regions to be created, Oti and Western North, will be presented with their CIs by the President at the Jubilee House today (Friday) to complete the entire process.

Mr Botwe expressed delight at the journey so far, save the disturbances that occurred in Salaga following the choice of Damongo as the capital of the Savannah Region.

“So far, the process has been encouraging and I commend the chiefs and the people for supporting the government in travelling that path,” he said.

He said the creation of the regions was all about accelerated development and promised that the Akufo-Addo government would not deviate from that path.

“This government will ensure the equitable distribution of development projects in the towns and no one will be left out,” he said.

Mr Botwe added that the regional offices of government institutions would not be placed in the regional capitals alone but that some of them would be located in the other towns.

Background

The former Brong Ahafo Region shared borders to the north with the Northern Region, the Western and Ashanti regions to the south, Cote d’Ivoire to the west, the Eastern Region to the south-east and the Volta Region to the east.

The old Volta Region, which will cease to exist from tomorrow when the Oti Region is legally carved out of it, covered an area of 20,570 square kilometres.

It bordered the Volta Lake to the west, the Republic of Togo to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

In the case of the former Western Region, it covered an area of approximately 23,921 square kilometres, which was about 10 per cent of Ghana’s total land area.

It was bordered to the east by the Central Region, to the west by Côte d’Ivoire, to the north by the Ashanti and the Brong Ahafo regions and to the south by the Gulf of Guinea.

The old Northern Region, which occupied an area of about 70,383 square kilometres, was the largest region in Ghana in terms of land area and it shared boundaries with the Upper East and the Upper West regions to the north, the Brong Ahafo and the Volta regions to the south, Togo to the east and Cote d’Ivoire to the west.