Northern Region to be partitioned

Accra, Oct. 28, GNA - Government is to set-up a technical committee to begin preparatory works on the creation of a new administrative entity, out of the Northern Region, Vice President John Dramani Mahama announced on Wednesday.

Receiving a delegation of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs who was at the Castle to present a resolution on the matter to the government, Vice President Mahama said the work of the technical committee would enable the President to set up a Commission of Enquiry into the matter, as outlined by the Constitution.

He observed that although there is public support for the move, the constitution has outlined elaborate mechanisms that must be followed before a new region can be created.

He expressed the hope that the creation of the region will facilitate administration and also lessen the difficulty in managing the vast area. Mr Mahama commended the chiefs for their sense of unity which, he said, was crucial to further "cement consensus" on the issue. But the Vice President also pointed to them the numerous challenges that lie ahead such as conducting of a referendum on the issue by the Electoral Commission after the completion of the work of the Technical Committee and the Commission of Enquiry.

He said the unity of purpose exhibited by the chiefs would enable them surmount the constitutional requirement that 50 per cent of the population in the area must participate in the referendum of which 80 per cent must approve of the proposal.

The visit by the chiefs which was led by Wulugu Naba, Na Professor J.S. Nabila who is also President of the National House of Chiefs, is the outcome of a unanimous decision reached by the body at its meeting on October 1, where the issue was exhaustively discussed. Na Nabila described the request as not only necessary but also long overdue and popular among the ethnic groups and politicians in the region. Staking reasons for the creation of at least two new regions out of the existing ones, Na Nabila said it would allow for grass root participation in governance and distribution of national resources more equitably. He referred to decades-long petition by the people including Ministers from both sides of the political divide who once administered the region as well as a recent petition by Yagbon-Wura Bawa Doshie Abudu of the Gonja Traditional Council in March 2003 on the matter.

Na Nabila commended President John Evans Atta Mills for recognising the laudable intentions underpinning the request and for referring the matter to the Regional House of Chiefs to facilitate consensus building. The chiefs and people of the region are arguing for the creation of new entities out of the existing 70. 3 square kilometres, which is populated by more than 1.8 million people to enable for easy administration and promote rapid development.

The region which covers a third of Ghana's land mass is inhabited by ethnic groups such as Dagombas, Gonjas, Mamprusis, Nanumbas and the North Mo ethnic groups.