President John Dramani Mahama has indicated of the possibility of creating some five additional regions.
This, he said, he would do in his second term if a committee mandated to carry out feasibility studies approves the proposal of additional regions.
“We currently have 10 regions and we believe that it is possible to increase the number to 15. So we will set up a commission of enquiry that will look into the viability of increasing the number of administrative regions in Ghana from 10 to 15,” he said.
Presenting highlights of his party manifesto for the upcoming December 7 polls, the flag bearer of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) stated on Tuesday September 13 in Accra that a commission would be tasked to receive petitions for the regions
If the commission presents its report and it is discovered that “the creation of those regions is a viable option or not and based on those recommendations, we will trigger that processes”.
The 2016 presidential nominee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had also promised to create a ‘Western-North’ Region if voted into office.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the creation of the Western-North region is long overdue, considering the fact that “a significant proportion of Ghana’s natural resources, such as gold and cocoa, as well as foodstuff” can be found in that part of the country.
Additionally, the NPP flag bearer noted that the creation of the region would ensure a more equitable development of the region, as well as address the unwieldy size of the Western Region.
He said the general consensus amongst the people of the Western Region was for the creation of a separate region to allow for a more efficient governance system.
“It is, thus, about time the ‘Western-North’ became its own separate, independent region. We are going to do that in Nana Akufo-Addo’s government. The constitution (Article 5) has created ways by which this can happen, and we will go through the prescribed methods towards achieving this,” he said.
The NPP flag bearer made this known on Thursday, August 11, at Amoaya in the Bodie constituency, on day two of his five-day tour of the Western Region.
It is expected that the Western-North Region will have the Sefwi, Juaboso, Bodie, Bia, and Bibiani areas as border towns.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
