Chiefs clamour for Ahafo Region

The Ahafo Development Association and the Council of Ahafo Chiefs have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fulfil his promise of creating for them the Ahafo Region.

According to them, the call for the creation of the Ahafo Region has been ongoing for the past 30 years. The group said this would enhance Ghana’s decentralisation process and strengthen grassroots participation in democracy as well as reduce the size of the Brong Ahafo Region and make it easier to administer.

Speaking at a press conference at Bechem in the Tano South district of the Brong Ahafo Region on Wednesday, 7 June 2017, the President of the Council of Ahafo Chiefs, Nana Yaw Adu Baah Ansah, who is also the Chief of Yamfo, stressed that the creation of the Ahafo region would bring about development.

Speaking to Class News on the sidelines of the press conference, the President of the Ahafo Development Association (ADA), Yaw Owusu Brempong, thanked Nana Akufo-Addo for his bold decision and commitment toward the creation of the Ahafo Region and said they have the resources to support the new region.

He called for continued unity and support from chiefs and all Ahafo citizens to cooperate with government as they go through the constitutional processes.

“The reason behind this press conference is to let the whole Ghana know that we the people of Ahafo, we are ready for the Ahafo region and we have to champion it ourselves. The President has promised he’s going to give it to us, but we have to work hard because we have to go through a referendum process. We have to get 50 per cent voter turnout and we have to get 80 per cent ‘Yes’. And because it’s not partisan, we have to, as a group, make sure we mobilise the people and campaign about the benefit of getting the region so that during the referendum, people will go and vote ‘yes’ and we can get the region that we’ve been looking for for so many years. We believe that once we get it, development will be accelerated in the area,” he stated.

Mr Brempong added: “We the people of Ahafo, we want the region more than the government wants to do. We are ready for it, we are going to mobilise all citizens of Ahafo – those in Accra, those in Kumasi – so that we will work with the ministry that has been created for this cause to make sure that at the end of the day we get our region.”