PRO rejects plans to divide Gonjaland into two separate Regions

Relations Officer (PRO) of the Gonjaland Youth Association Mr Mahama Haruna has disclosed that the Youth of Gonjaland will fight against the balkanization of Gonjaland.

“I can assure you that not even a meter of Gonjaland would be added to the so-called Eastern Corridor Region because we would mobilize and fight against dividing Gonjaland into two separate Regions” he threatened.

According the Gonjaland Youth PRO, the Youth of Gonjaland have been agitating for the creation of a second region out of Northern Region and would support the creation of a second region but not on the direction that has been announced. “We would mobilise and harness all our intellectuals and stakeholders across all the political spectra and forcefully resist any attempt to divide Gonjaland into two separate regions”.

According Mr Haruna, the government of Kwame Nkrumah took away Gonjaland and added it to the Brong-Ahafo and today such lands are almost lost. He said the Flight Lt Jerry John Rawlings military regime tried to carve the Bole area out of Gonja for the Upper West Region but was met with stiff resistance and that made it impossible to divide Gonjaland into two separate regions then.

“We have a duty to protect our land so either we all fall into one region or remain in the original Northern Region” he emphasized.

Mr Mahama Haruna said this in reaction to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s statement that his government intends creating four new regions in addition to the existing 10 during his tenure of office and one of these regions will be an “Eastern Corridor Region” from the present Northern Region.

According Mr Haruna an Eastern corridor Region means East Gonja and Kpandai Districts of Gonjaland would be added to Yendi, Saboba, Zabzugu Tatale, Chereponi, Nanumba North and South, West and East Mamprusi and others form a Region with the capital at Yendi and the rest of Gonjaland would remain part of an old Region with the capital at Tamale.

Bole District he revealed refused to be part of the Upper West Region when it was being created 1981 because they wanted to be in the same region with their Gonja brothers from the East and it is the same way East Gonja would not be part of any Eastern Corridor Region. The PRO of the Gonjaland Youth Association who is also the General Manager of Bole-based Nkilgi Fm located said he has studied the geographical map of Northern Region and has realised a horizontal division of the present Northern region would be the best because there are four Kings in the Northern Region; Ya-na for Dagombas, Na-yiri for Mamprusis, Yagbonwura for Gonjas and Bimbilla-Na for Nanumbas and so there should be two Kings in each of the regions to be created from Northern Region, that is, Dagomba and Mamprusi on one side and Gonja and Nanumba on the other.

He said a horizontal division would also be better because the capital of any proposed region would not be a town of an ethnic group that already has a capital town. Mr Haruna said it would obviously be in the interest of the people of Northern Region that the re-demarcation being proposed is done with the least resort to civil strife and any form of conflict and the best way to guarantee this in his view is to ensure that pre-existing ethnic and traditional allegiances are maintained.

“If for instance Nanumbaland is combined with Gonjaland to form a new region the Yagbonwura and Bimbilla Naa should become the two paramount chiefs with each maintaining their distinct traditions, culture and chieftaincy issues” he said.

The Gonja Youth PRO said the creation of a new region along some specific lines would ensure peace among the traditional authorities and also make for the creation of additional regional houses of chiefs to increase participatory traditional administration in the area.