Asokore ends boycott of census

Koforidua, March 30 GNA - The people of Asokore, near Koforidua, on Wednesday ended their boycott of the National Population and Housing Census (NPHC) following an intervention by the New Juaben Traditional Council.

They had been boycotting the three-day old census because of a dispute with Effiduase over the demarcation of enumeration areas. The President of the Council, Daasebre Dr. Oti Boateng announced at a press briefing, after an emergency meeting with the two factions on Wednesday, that the people of Asokore had agreed to end their boycott.

The meeting was attended by the New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Emmanuel Adu-Boateng and officials from the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council, Land Valuation Board (LVB) and Town and Country Planning Department.

He said the meeting unanimously resolved that enumeration areas demarcated for the 1984 census should be used for the current exercise in the disputed areas, while any "updated segmentation" should be credited to either Asokore or Effiduase where applicable.

It was also resolved that the LVB should immediately rewrite the "ASK" house numbers for Asokore, which it rubbed off and replaced with "N" for "Neutral", a few weeks to the census.

Daasebre Oti Boateng said the meeting further decided that the Acting Government Statistician should conduct the census in the disputed area in accordance with the agreement reached at the meeting, adding that the so-called boundary dispute would be resolved later.

Nana Kwadwo Gyimah, Gyasehene and Regent, Nana Kwabena Obeng, Nkosuohene and Assemblyman and Okyeame Antwi Panyin led the Asokore team while the Effiduasehene Nana Omane Acheamfour and Abakomahene Nana Owusu Akyeaw led that of Effiduase.