Report on creation of new regions to be published this week

The Government will publish the 398-page report of the Justice Brobbey Commission that inquired into the creation of new regions this week, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, has said.

The publication would be done on government online portal www.ghana.gov.gh, and other social media handles as well as made it available to the Ghana Publishing Company for the hard copy for purchase.

Again, copies of the report would also be made available to Parliament and subsequently disseminated across key stakeholders nationwide.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah, addressing journalists at a news conference in Accra on Sunday, said the process for the creation of new regions was initiated in accordance with Article 5 of the 1992 constitution, which does not provide for the publication of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry.

However, due to the President’s firm views on good governance and transparency, he called for the publication of the Report.

In an instruction note to the Ministry, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said, President Akufo-Addo stated that “the dictates of good governance and transparency in the public space of a functioning democracy should lead me to authorize, prior to the planned referenda by the Electoral Commission on December 27, 2018, the publication of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Creation of New Regions”.

The Supreme Court, last week, rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the process initiated by the President upon receipt of petitions for the creation of six new regions.

The Information Minister said the publication of the Report should not be confused with Article 278 commissions, which requires a mandatory publication of the Report of the Commission.