I’ve not created new regions - Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has denied speculations making the rounds on the alleged demarcation, naming or siting of regional capitals.

Article 5 of the country’s Constitution imposes strict requirements for the creation of a new region, alteration of a regional boundary or the merger of two or more regions.

The import of these strict requirements is to insist on clear, emphatic and popular support for the re-organisation to take effect.

Even though he has received petitions for the creation of new regions from the chiefs and people in the Volta, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Western Regions – which have been approved by the Council of State – President Akufo-Addo said, “There have not been any predetermined regional boundaries, specific names given to any region to be created, and siting of regional capitals by my government.”

Commission

This was when he inaugurated a nine-member Commission of Inquiry chaired by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey, with Dr Grace Bediako, former Government Statistician; Maulvi Mohammed Bin-Salih, the Ameer in-Charge, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana; Prof Kwasi Adarkwa, a former Vice Chancellor, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); Gladys Tetteh, local governance expert; Robert Ajene, a retired Director of Education; Dr David Wellington Essaw, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cape Coast; Prof George Owusu of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and Director, Centre for Urban Management Studies, University of Ghana, and Josephine Hughes as members, with Jacob Saah, a legal practitioner, as the Secretary.

Explaining the issues involved in the regional creation further, President Akufo-Addo said, “These are matters that are, properly, within the remit of the Commission, and will be dealt with by them, and form part of their recommendations.”

In the event that this Commission, through its consultations with the people, comes to the conclusion that there is a need and substantial demand for the creation of new regions or alteration of regional boundaries, the president will be required by Article 5 (4) of the Constitution to refer the recommendations to the Electoral Commission on the issues set forth by the Commission.

The Electoral Commission must, then, conduct a Referendum, at which at least 50% of the persons entitled to vote cast their votes, and, of the votes cast, at least 80% in favour of the demand for the creation of a region to succeed.

At the end of the day, President Akufo-Addo noted, “It is the will of the people that will determine the outcome.

“It is, thus, important to note that the quest for the creation of new regions is purely demand-driven, since petitions were received by me from the chiefs and peoples of the proposed regions,” he emphasized.

This was part of reasons why during his recent visits with the chiefs and peoples of Western and Northern Regions, President Akufo-Addo averred, “I reiterate that the success or otherwise of the creation of proposed new regions rests squarely on the inhabitants of the areas who have submitted petitions and made demands.”

The Law

Article 5 (2) of the Constitution stipulates, “If the President, upon a petition being presented to him and, on the advice of the Council of State, is satisfied that there is substantial demand for (a) the creation of a new region; (b) the alteration of the boundaries of a region, whether or not the alteration involves the creation of a new region; or (c) the merger of any two or more regions; he shall, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State, appoint a commission of inquiry to inquire into the demand and to make recommendations on all the factors involved in the creation, alteration or merger.”

The terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry are set out in paragraph 4 of C.I. 105 to inquire, pursuant to the petitions, into the need and substantial demand for the creation of new regions and, thereby, the alteration of the Western Region, Brong-Ahafo Region, Northern Region and Volta Region to make recommendations to the president, based on its findings, on the creation of a region or alteration of regional boundaries; and specify the issues to be determined by Referendum and the places where the referendum should be held, where it makes recommendations for the creation of new regions and alteration of regional boundaries.

Justice Allan Brobbey thanked the president for the confidence reposed in them, with a promise to live up to expectation.