MLGRD, EC asked to resolve disputed boundaries
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and the Electoral Commission (EC) have been urged to resolve boundary disputes arising from the creation of new districts and constituencies to enhance peace and the development of the areas.
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While MLGRD is responsible for the creation of new districts, EC is mandated to create new constituencies under the 1992 Constitution.
The Member of Parliament for Nkwanta South, Mr Gershon K.B. Gbediame, made the call during the debate on the 2015 budget estimates for MLGRD at the sitting of the house on Tuesday.
Mr Gbediame said even though the creation of new districts and constituencies were meant to open up those areas and bring government to the doorstep of the beneficiary communities, the issue had generated boundary disputes in some of the communities to the detriment of their intended purposes.
Citing cases in his area, Mr Gbediame stated that the Nkwanta District was divided into north and south in 2004 and in drawing the boundary, two communities, namely New Agou and Jumbo, which are closer to Kpasa, were placed in the Nkwanta North constituency while towns such as Papaye and Ebeteyie, which are 10 kilometres away from Kpasa, were placed in Nkwanta South.
He said the situation created some misunderstanding in the minds of the people in the affected areas and asked that the boundary disputes be resolved before it was too late.
He said since 2004, the people had vowed never to vote until the anomaly had been resolved, and added that in 2007, the newly created constituency of Nkwanta South was elevated into a district without rectifying the anomaly. Since then, the people in the two communities in the new constituency do not want to join the district and when they went to the north, they were told they did not belong to the district.
He said the dispute had affected the development of the area, and appealed to them to rescind their decision while calling on MLGRD and EC to take immediate steps to remedy the anomaly in order not to discourage future governments from creating new districts.
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The MP also advised the two bodies to do due diligence in the creation of boundaries for new districts to minimise disputes and promote peace and harmony for the development of the areas.
He described political boundaries as not coterminous with traditional boundaries, saying political boundaries were for administrative purposes and were meant to bring government closer to the people.
Earlier in its report, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Dominic Azimbe Azumah, Member of Parliament for Garu, had stated that the Ministry had not been given clearance to recruit staff to fill vacancies in MMDAs since its last recruitment in 2012 and that the situation had been compounded by the creation of 46 new districts in 2012 which lacked the requisite number of staff to enable them to function effectively.