End politicisation of move to create new regions — President
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for an end to the politicisation of the move to create new regions, saying the exercise was for national progress and development and not to score political points.
“We are not having regions because of the regions. We are having regions in order to facilitate governance in our country. So if today we see the need to also increase the regions, then so be it,” the President stressed.
More so, the President added, the law permitted that when the people felt there was the need for the creation of additional regions, it ought to be considered.
It is, therefore, the stance of the President that the path of democratic governance is based on the wishes and aspirations of the people and not the whims and caprices of an individual.
President Akufo-Addo said this when a coalition of chiefs from the Brong Ahafo Region, led by the Paramount Chief of Yeji, Pimampim Yaw Kabrese V, who also doubles as the President of the Brong Ahafo House of Chiefs, called on him to make a case for the creation of the Brong East Region.
Creation of new regions
The President said the request of the chiefs and people for the Brong East Region could only take place based on the commitment of the chiefs and people towards its attainment.
Already, the President said, some people were giving political interpretations to the quest to create new regions, saying he did not see any politics in creating new regions to facilitate national development.
Rather, he said, the government was taking a comprehensive look at the national governance structure with a view to seeing how best it could be made to work more efficiently and productively.
The President, therefore, described the politicisation of the creation of new regions as needless and immature.
The creation of new regions, he said, must not give rise to any political tension in the country, but it must rather be embraced by all in the interest of national development.
“It is not about NPP or NDC but the development of the Bono people,” he said.
He, therefore, urged the chiefs and elders to lead the campaign from now towards mobilising the people to bring about the needed reforms for speedy development.
The President recounted that Ghana did not originally have 10 administrative regions, recalling that during the colonial era, there were three regions – Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti and the Northern territories - which were later increased to five after independence with the addition of Trans-Volta Togoland and the Western Region.
Later, under the Presidency of Jerry John Rawlings, the administrative regions of the country were increased to 10.
Therefore, the President said, as the nation progressed, there would be the need to look at the various arrangements and changes that would enhance the development processes of the country.
‘I have done my part’
According to the President, he had fulfilled his constitutional obligations by setting the processes for the creation of the new regions in motion.
He said he had received petitions for the creation of new regions, studied them, saw the substance of the request and referred same to the Council of State.
The Council of State, he said, subsequently saw the import of the requests made by the people and that resulted in the constitution of the commission of inquiry whose mandate would be to engage with the people to hear their cases for the creation of new regions.
Based on its finding, the President said, the commission would make recommendations to the President who would also refer the issues to the Electoral Commission (EC) who would hold a referendum in the area under concern to authenticate the request for new creations.
The President said at least 50 per cent of registered voters in the affected area ought to turn out to vote and out of that, at least 80 per cent ought to say ‘yes’ to the creation of the new region.
Political mobilisation required
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that the political mobilisation that was required to make that possible was not an easy one; hence if the chiefs and people wanted that to happen, then it was primarily incumbent on them to ensure a full mobilisation of the people towards that goal.
He stressed that he did not seek election to deceive the people of Ghana and that all the promises made were made because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) believed that when those measures were implemented, they would spur on national development.
“We have just started and not reached anywhere yet, but the signs are showing already and we are only praying for God’s grace and wisdom to see us through,” he said.
What was required now, the President said, was the full support of all traditional leaders to buy into the government’s agenda of transforming the economy, adding that: “Without your support, we cannot succeed.”
Pimampim Yaw Kabrese V expressed gratitude to the President for being a listening leader, adding that under one year of his administration, visible signs of national progress had been seen.
He was emphatic that the creation of the Brong East Region would go a long way to facilitate the development of the area and bring governance to the doorstep of the people.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh