Be decisive in making Gambaga capital of North East Region — Mamprugu Youth to Akufo-Addo

A group calling itself the Progressive Youth of Mamprugu is calling on President Akuf Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo to as a matter of urgency be decisive in choosing a capital for the North East Region.

According to the group, it has come to their notice that a lot of mischievous individuals are trying to dilute the objectivity of the President in his attempt to choose a right location for the capital.

They stated that, there should not be any challenge in choosing a capital for the newly created region since Gambaga has all the vestiges suitable to start as a regional capital and that if the Nayiri wants it in Nalerigu, he should rather be visibly seen bidding for Gambaga to made the capital so that, the proximity of Nalerigu to Gambaga can force a development between the two (2) locations.

They stated in a release copied to MyNewsGh.com that, Gambaga is the oldest political location of Mamprugu. It was once the administrative and political capital of the Northern until 1907 when it was moved to Tamale on the basis of harmonious relationship between the Mamprusis and Dagombas but the key consideration for the movement was centered on centrality as a consideration.

Gambaga was close to the borders of the erstwhile Upper Region. In buttressing their position, they further mentioned that, the Nayiri was domiciled in Gambaga and eventually moved to settle in Nalerigu. This movement happened during the reign of Naa Atabiya and reason he used for his movement was that, he did not want to occupy the same town as the political and the administrative head and they rhetorical posed a question; what has changed? And that, will the Nayiri move to a different location if Nalerigu is made the capital? They also drew the attention of mynewsgh.com to the fact that, apart from the Medical Centre owned by the Baptist Mission, there is no single facility in Nalerigu that can aid Nalerigu to kick start as a regional capital. It is worth noting that, the medical facility is not a Government facility. Aside, in the history of Ghana, Ghanaians are yet to be told how a town which has never been a district capital, graduated a municipality suddenly became a regional capital. As country, we need to make value for money decision whilst respecting our political history.

Yesterday, Sunday, February 10, 2019, a certain document was seen making rounds in the social media showing signatures of Divisional and Sub Chiefs demonstrating their consent to government to make Nalerigu the capital.

But they argued that it is important to state with authority that, a lot of the Chiefs signed that document under duress with claims by section that they were coerced.

“Mamprusis are generally a discipline group of people. We respect our Chiefs so much especially the Nayiri and so under no circumstance will the Nayiri want anybody do something and be greeted with disappointment and this does that exclude the people of Gambaga, their Chief and the Imam but a meticulous study of the document indicated that, the Chief of Gambaga was not included in the document not because he could have refused to sign but he was deliberately not included so that he will not know what is happening. People of Gambaga have a great deal of respect for the Nayiri and will not in any way show an iota of disrespect to his authority”, they noted.

They are also calling on the President and the Ministry to stick to its earlier idea of consulting technocrats to aid in a proper siting of the capital. It is our hope that such technocrats will meticulously and patiently sift through all matters without succumbing to the whims and caprices interested parties within the North East Region

The group also stated, argument to make Walewale the capital is neither here nor there. Firstly, Walewale was curved out of Gambaga to head the West Mamprusi District. Secondly, how can a capital of a region share borders with two (2) different administrative regions. It shares borders with the already existing Northern region and the Upper East region and any request to make Walewale the capital appears dead on arrival.

They are also calling on the Nayiri to call to order men and women who are mischievously using his name to lobby on the basis of wrong reasons and facts.

“His Excellency the President should call Hajia Alima Mahama to order. She knows that, but for Gambaga, she could not have been Member of Parliament but some other sources indicate that, six (6) months to 2020 general elections, the Nalerigu/Gambaga Constituency shall be divided into two (2) Constituencies and so she seems not to be bordered about incurring the displeasure of the people of Gambaga since she would move her interest to the yet-to-be-created Nalerigu/Sakogu Constituency. She is mischievously protecting her interest more than the larger Party’s (NPP) interest. The NPP will be shocked at the outcome of the elections in 2020 in Mamprugu should they avoid doing the right thing and indeed the needful in siting the capital”, they threatened.

They are also respectfully requesting the Vice President, Dr. (Alhaji) Mahamudu Bawumia to call the Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to order for cruelly using his name to muddy peace for the Mamprugu Traditional Area