FACTCHECK: Ahiagbah's claim Mahama failed to create new regions is misleading

Claim:

On May 15, 2024, the Director of Communications for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, suggested that former President John Dramani Mahama failed to establish new regions during his time as president - i.e. between 2012 - 2017.

His claim, posted on X read: "Bawumia will always stand with Gonjaland. He firmly supported H.E. Akufo-Addo in creating the Savannah Region, a promise that H.E. Mahama failed to fulfill during his presidency. Vote Bawumia to do more for Gonjaland."

The above post suggested that Mahama had promised to establish a region but failed to do so when he was in office.

Verification:

Mahama is on record as speaking to the issue of new regions in 2016 when he was seeking re-election.

At the September 2016 launch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaign, he said: “We currently have 10 regions. We believe that it is possible to increase the number of regions to 15."

He added that the NDC government will set up a Commission of enquiry to explore the viability or otherwise of increasing the number of regions.

“So we will set up a commission of enquiry that will look at the viability of increasing the number of administrative regions of Ghana from 10 to 15.

“The commission will receive petitions and based on those petitions they will look at the creation of those regions if it’s a viable option or not and it is based on that recommendation we will trigger that constitutional processes,” he added.

GhanaWeb FactCheck desk also run checks in the NDC's 2016 manifesto, wherein the party made a commitment on the creation of new regions.

Pages 72 and 73 under what the party pledged to achieve under "Decentralization and Local Governance," read in part: "Set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into the creation of new regions, with the intention to increase the number of regions to fifteen."

It is worth noting that Mahama's promise came a month after then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had made a similar pledge.

Mahama lost the 2016 election to Akufo-Addo, the latter went ahead to undertake processes that led to the establishment of six new regions after a referendum vote in 2018.

The Northern Region split into Northern, North East and Savannah; Volta split into Volta and Oti; Western split into Western and Western North; Brong-Ahafo split into Bono, Ahafo and Bono East regions.

Verdict:

To the extent that Mahama did not win the 2016 elections, which was the first time he had promised to oversee the creation of five new regions, Ahiagbah's claim that the creation of new regions was "a promise that H.E. Mahama failed to fulfill during his presidency," is misleading.

SARA

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