President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated a 9-member Commission of Inquiry as part of steps to create new administrative regions.
The Commission, which was inaugurated on Thursday, October 19 at the seat of government, the Flag Staff House, has Justice SA Brobbey, a retired Supreme Court judge, as its Chair.
The members are Dr Grace Bediako, a former government statistician; Maulvi Mohammed Bin- Saleh, Ameer, Missionary in-charge of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana; Prof Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, former Vice Chancellor of the KNUST; Ms Gladys Gillian Naadu, a local governance expert; Mr Robert Ajene, retired Director of Education; Dr David Wellington Essaw, Senior Research Fellow, University of Cape Coast; Prof George Owusu, Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and Ms Josephine Hughes, a legal practitioner.
President Akufo-Addo, while inaugurating the Commission said: “There exist significant evidence that the demand for the creation of the new regions was not made to me alone, but also to other political leaders. It is instructive to note that in the course of the 2016 campaign of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition party, the party pledged to facilitate the creation of five new regions had the party been successful at the 2016 elections.
“In the course of the 2016 campaign, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), now ruling party, also pledged the creation of four regions. This clearly demonstrates that there is a unity of minds of the two major parties on the need for the creation of new administrative regions.”
He added: “Indeed, one of the issues that came to the fore during the discussions at the meeting I held here at the Flagstaff House with my predecessors, the three former Presidents of the Republic – Their Excellencies Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama – was the substantial demands for the creation of new regions. The issue was discussed at length.
“Since I assumed office, many traditional authorities, civil society organisations and responsible citizens have also voiced their support for the creation of new regions.”
The Commission’s recommendations will subsequently be handed over to the Electoral Commission to organise a referendum on the matter within the various regions, out of which the new ones will be created.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
