Four Electoral Areas opt out of newly created Kintampo South district

Ntankoro (B/A), Jan. 29, GNA- Four electoral areas in the Kintampo district in Brong-Ahafo have opted out of the newly created Kintampo South, which has Jema as its proposed capital. Apesika East, Apesika West, Akora and Ntankoro communities made this known at a press conference at Ntankoro, near Kintampo on Wednesday.

In attendance were chiefs, elders, Assembly Members and unit committees.

In a statement signed by 13 persons including the chiefs of Ntankoro, Apesika and Akora, Assembly Members, unit committees and opinion leaders, the communities held that any demarcation that would severe them from Kintampo as their district capital would not be in the interest of their people.

Indeed, we cannot welcome any such arrangement, they said, and expressed the hope that they would be "spared the agony and unpleasant situation of any form of confrontation and hostility between our people and the state."

They said the press conference was to communicate their concerns for the attention of the government.

Mr Opoku Nyame, Assembly Member for Akora and Mr Emmanuel Kwame Kontor, Assembly Member for Apesika East, explained that the four communities had decided to remain with Kintampo District Assembly because of proximity and other factors.

"We are closest to Kintampo and are linked directly to it by road and in terms of proximity, Kintampo is our natural capital. "To travel beyond Kintampo to any other place would be too costly to bear, as that would mean spending more money, time and energy to attend meetings, functions and other related programmes and activities", Mr Nyame said.

The two Assembly Members added that the people in the four electoral areas were predominantly farmers with Kintampo as their traditional source of social and economic livelihood.

All the farm produce and wealth from our area find their way to Kintampo market, we have our business and economic enterprises there and Kintampo is home to our kith and kin, Mr Kontor added.

The two men emphasized that it will be unimaginable and imprudent to be severed from their natural link for political expediency. The two spokesmen recalled that in September last year, Apesika East, Apesika West, Akora, Ntankoro, Badukrom, Kunsu and Miawani electoral areas, which are billed to join the newly created Kintampo South district, petitioned the Electoral Commission against the mode of demarcation.

They noted that the people had nothing against the creation of the Kintampo South district but were only in disagreement with the mode of the demarcation, in which none of the opinion leaders in the area were contacted or involved.

They held that some politicians might have interfered with their earlier petitions and appealed to President J A Kufuor to order an investigation into the complaint.