Ofosu-Ampofo inaugurates Committee on District Boundary Disputes

Accra, Aug. 3, GNA - Local Government and Rural Development Minister= , Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, on Wednesday, inaugurated a technical committee wit= h a charge to come out with proposals on how to resolve boundary disputes raging in 70 districts in the country. He said the boundary disputes had virtually made it impossible for the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to release the 2010 Population and Housing Census results at the district level, though provisional results at the national and regional levels had long been provided. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the problem emerged during the census when some communities and individuals did not want to provide information because the= y felt they did not belong to the district or communities in which they were going to be enumerated.

He said with the help of district census officials and community leaders some households were convinced to be enumerated with the understanding that information collected would be sent to the appropriate districts. "There is thus the need to resolve the boundary disputes to enable t= he census results be released on district to district basis," Mr Ofosu-Ampof= o said, adding that, this would enable the GSS to meet the ever-growing requests for district level data to enable policy and decision makers to formulate policies.

He said this work needed to be done with the urgency it required since government needed a reliable data to plan its activities, especially the composite budget. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo assured the committee of the necessary logistical support to complete their task. The Committee has up to the end of August to present a report to the Ministry.