SALL residents never opposed Oti Region – Dan Botwe

Daniel Kweku Botwe, the Local Government, Decentralisation & Rural Development Minister-designate has stated that the chiefs and people of Santrofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) agreed to be part of the newly created Oti Region.

The traditional leaders of SALL submitted a petition to the Appointment’s Committee for Dan Botwe’s appointment to the Local Government Ministry to be rejected because Oti Region was created out of the Volta Region despite their opposition, but a referendum indicated that the majority of the people were in favour of the re-demarcation.

Speaking to the petition when he appeared before the Appointments Committee to be vetted for the new portfolio, he indicated that “This allegation is coming out of a deep misunderstanding. It has no basis. It is never true that the people of Akpafu areas were not interested in being part of Oti Region and that they were forced, it is totally untrue, nothing supports that assertion.”

Dan Botwe stated, claims that the chiefs and people of the region blame him for the disenfranchisement of the people of Santrofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi in 2020’s parliamentary elections are unfounded.

He explained that “the process of creating new regions is enshrined in the Constitution” and not in any individual’s powers, therefore, the process of creating Oti Region was transparent and it was done according to the dictates of the 1992 Constitution.

“…Chapter 2 of the Constitution and Article 5 states clearly the process you go through when you’re creating a new region and when you are merging 2 regions. So, we followed it. Petitions were received from citizens who were interested in having new regions. We followed the constitutional provisions. Our ministry facilitated it and worked closely with the office of [the] President,” Botwe said to a question asked by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

He added that the Government of Ghana before creating the six new regions established a Commission of Enquiry which is mandated by the Constitution.

He stated further that the commission headed by Justice Brobbey took the time to meet with the petitioners in their respective traditional areas to address their concerns and public hearings were held and reports from these meetings submitted for deliberations before the final decision was taken.

“…It’s not as if one chief because he is the chief of an area, he writes a petition, ‘I want to have a new region’ and it is assumed that all the people want it,” Daniel Kweku Botwe said.

He continued: “There were people who even though the chiefs and elders and opinion leaders were fighting for the creation of a new region, there were others who opposed it.

“And that is why there was nowhere that you had 100%. Which means that there were some people who were not interested in it. But they also had their chance to argue it out and also finally take part in the referendum.”

Dan Botwe stressed that “It is never true that the people from Akpafu and Lolobi areas were not interested in being part of Oti region and they were forced. Totally untrue. Nothing supports that assertion.”