There is substantial demand for creation of new regions – Council of State

The Council of State has, unanimously, informed the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that there is a substantial demand for the creation of new regions, after studying the petitions for the creation of new regions which were forwarded to the Council.

The Council has, therefore, advised President Akufo-Addo to appoint a Commission of Enquiry “to inquire into the need and to make recommendations on all the factors involved in the creation of the new regions.”

Nana Otuo Siriboe II made this known on Tuesday, 15th August, 2017, when the Council of State held its 2nd meeting with the President of the Republic, at the Flagstaff House.

According to the Chairperson, the Council of State, on the 29th of June, received a communication from the President seeking the Council’s advice on the creation of new regions, as stipulated in the Constitution.

The communication, he said, contained copies of the petitions from the Chiefs and people of the Western, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Volta Regions “from where the demands from the creation of new regions had been the most vociferous”.

After meticulously going through the petitions, which the Chairperson of the Council of State stated, numbered some 312 pages with accompanying maps and statistical data, the Council was also briefed by the Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, Hon. Dan Kwaku Botwe, on his interactions with the Chiefs and peoples of the four regions.

“The Hon. Minister did impress the Council with the elaborate home work he has done on this exercise including the extensive literature review on Ghana’s geo-political structure,” Nana Otuo Sriboe II said.

He continued, “Mr. President, the Council of State has the honour to inform you that, having studied the petitions submitted and the detailed briefing by the Hon. Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, it is of the unanimous opinion that there is a SUBSTANTIAL DEMAND for the creation of new regions.”

Welcome development

Describing the gesture as extremely welcome, and an indication of the Council of State’s determination to work closely with the Executive to the benefit of the Ghanaian people, President Akufo-Addo also thanked the council for the expeditious manner in which it has assisted the Presidency in the task of populating the Executive and State institutions of the country.

“I am emboldened in taking this step (creating new regions) by the support that you have emulated in the response to my request. I think that the quality of people who are assembled in this Council of State, expressing themselves unanimously on this, is a very important development in the history of our country, and I have to express my gratitude towards you for doing that,” the President said.

Having received a favourable response from the Council of State, the President is mandated by the Constitution to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the need for the creation of the new region.

Should the Commission be convinced that such a need pertains, it will recommend the places and issues for a referendum. The matter will then be referred to the Electoral Commission for a referendum to be held according to the recommendations of the Commission.

It was President Akufo-Addo’s hope that, when established, “the Commission of Inquiry would also work as expeditiously as you (Council of State) have done. I think that matters like this are matters that ought to be determined with dispatch, so that the body politic of Ghana can gain some stability in knowing exactly what is the next step ahead of us.”