EC asked to rename new East Akim Constituencies

Koforidua, Jan. 8, GNA- A Legal Practitioner, Nana Addo Aikins, on Thursday appealed to the Electoral Commission to rename the two newly-created constituencies in the East Akim District as "Akyem Abuakwa East" and "Akyem Abuakwa West" instead of Abuakwa East and Abuakwa West. He said in a statement that, since there is a town called Abuakwa in the Ashanti Region, the new names, if not changed, could cause confusion in the minds of the public as to the exact identities and locations of Abuakwa, the town and the newly-created constituencies.

The statement referred to a "looming confrontation" between two factions contesting for the citing of the constituency capital for the new Abuakwa East involving the people of Kukurantumi and New Tafo and called on the EC to consider convening a meeting of opinion leaders in the area for a "judicious and dispassionate consideration of the issues before the situation assumes a serious dimension."

On the issue of whether or not the newly-created constituencies should take effect from 2005, Nana Addo Aikins suggested that the matter be sent to the Supreme Court for interpretation to "prevent certain people wanting to satisfy personal and group interests from picking quarrels on the issue in future."

He said he hoped the EC would continue to pursue its task of demarcating the political boundaries into smaller units and centres of power "to help create a new democratic order that will ensure true participation of the people in the decision making process.

"Dividing the Northern Region into two or more regions to serve such a purpose will surely not be left out when the time comes."