‘Consider Damongo as capital of proposed new region’

The chiefs and people of the Damongo Traditional Area have proposed to the Commission of Enquiry into the creation of the new regions to consider Damongo, the district capital of West Gonja as the capital of the proposed new region to be created in Gonjaland.

The chiefs and the people explained that Damongo is the heart of economic activities in Gonjaland. It hosts almost all the tribes in Ghana and has all the facilities and natural resources to facilitate development.

They are also proposing that the new region be named “Savannah Region” because savannah covers all the entire spectrum of tribal groupings in Gonjaland.

These came to light when the commission held a public hearing in Damongo last Wednesday to seek the views of the chiefs and people of the area on the creation of the proposed Savannah Region.

Economic potential

Speaker after speaker at the public hearing underscored the economic potential in the area which could be tapped to create more jobs and transform the economy when the regional capital is sited in Damongo.

They were of the assertion that the major tourist centres such as the Mole National Park, Larabanga Mosque and the Larabanga Mystic Stone which generate huge sums of revenue for the government would also receive a major boost.

They also justified their demand for the siting of the regional capital in Damongo by emphasising the peaceful nature of the area which was suitable for the establishment of an administrative capital.

Damongo supports creation of new region

The Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Dr Clifford Braimah, who delivered a keynote address on behalf of the chiefs and people of Damongo, said: “We are fully in support of the creation of the Savannah Region because it will help to bring development to the area and improve on the infrastructural deficit.”

He urged the commission to take into consideration similar concerns raised by the public and recommend Damongo for the regional capital and also recommend the name “Savannah Region” for the new region to be created in Gonjaland.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry, Justice Stephen Alan Brobbey, has given an assurance that the commission will factor in the concerns of the public on the creation of the new region before the final decision is taken.

The commission is in the Northern Region to conduct a two-week public hearing in the Gonja and Mamprugu traditional areas where petitions have been received for the creation of the proposed Savannah and the North East regions respectively.