New Oti Region will end history of neglect – Petioners

The Volta Region’s Joint Consultative Committee on the creation of the proposed new region is of the view that carving out a new region to be known as the ‘Oti Region’, will end years of neglect stemming from colonial days.

It is the sense of neglect that has informed their petition for a new region, the Secretary of the Joint Consultative Committee, Kwaku Addaeh said to the press.

He was speaking after appearing before the nine-member Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, where he affirmed that there were over 400 chiefs in favor of the new regions.

Mr. Addaeh said the JCC had more than a strong case for the creation of a new region, saying “if over 400 chiefs attend [during the JCC’s first conference] then it means the people are there. Without the backing of the people, they can’t go there.”

History of supposed neglect

Arguing out his point about neglect, he noted that, for “a population of 700,000 people, there is no university, there is no agricultural college, there is no polytechnic. When you go to the health sector, our hospitals are few, and wide spaces of land where humans reside have no hospitals and the clinics are not well resourced.”

In his view, there was “a deliberate British policy not to develop the Northern side of the Volta Region and the northern region.”

As it stands, some of the areas of deprivation in Ghana are located in the three regions of the north, extending downwards to parts of the Volta Region.

On the question of a regional capital, Mr. Addaeh said no decision had been taken yet.




“The only decision that we have taken is that, wherever any person wants the capital to go, he should write a memorandum to the secretary of the Joint Consultative Committee. We will set aside one day for the meeting and make appropriate recommendations to the chiefs.”

Why the Commission of Enquiry?

The Commission of Enquiry was set up by President Akufo-Addo to examine petitions on the possible creation of new regions.

It is to engage petitioners from the Western, Volta, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions, out of which the new regions are to be carved out.

A delegation of Chiefs, MPs and staff of the Western North secretariat of the Western Region has already had discussions with the Commission on Tuesday.

Source: citifmonline.com