Kassena Nankana East protest against new District

Bolgatanga, Nov. 10, GNA - The Chiefs and people of the Kassena Nankana East on Friday protested against the creation of the new Kassena-Nankana West District with Paga as its capital. Speaking to the press in Bolgatanga, they explained that the new District dismembered the people of the Kassena Nankana East, who lived in the same location and spoke the same dialect that is different from people of the new District

They said some communities in the East, including Yua, Natugnia, Manyoro and Akurugu-Daboo had been put under the new District while their immediate neighbours remained under the old Kassena-Nankana District.

This, they complained was most inconvenient, especially so, as their people would have to travel about 40 kilometres to the new capital which was only five kilometres from Navrongo, capital of Kassena-Nankana District.

"We the united people of the seven communities of the Kassena-Nankana East feel the manner in which we are being partitioned as small fishes and thrown into the mouths of big whales is an affront to our dignity as a people", they said. They said the Kassena-Nankana East had a population of 70,000 people and 54 polling stations as against the proposed new District that had only 28 polling stations. "We feel that, the government's development policy of promoting balanced development would be enhanced if the East Zone is granted a new District constituency", they said.

In a statement copied to President John Agyekum Kufuor, the Upper East Regional Minister and the two Members of Parliament from the Kassena Nankana District, they appealed to the President to consider creating a new District that would be named Kassena-Nankana East District.

They asked that Kassena-Nankana East be given its own constituency to avoid the pending confusion that might erupt during the 2008 general elections.

The Chiefs, supported by their elders and opinion leaders said they had been petitioning for a separate District since the 1970s and the government had not been fair to them as they were not consulted. They said in one of their petitions, they were told that they did not have a constituency and a Member of Parliament and argued that they were a part of the two constituencies in the District since they go there to vote. 10 Nov. 07