Chiefs call for broader consultation in splitting Volta Region

Nana Soglo Alloh IV, Paramount Chief of Likpe and President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs has called on government to consult widely on the creation of another region out of the Volta Region.

He said the subject, which had become a political agenda for major political parties since the third Republic, was of great concern to people in the Region necessitating consensus building ahead of its implementation. Nana Alloh was addressing the first meeting of the House in 2017 in Ho. He said, “as far as the citizens of the Region are concerned, opinions and views of the split are equally divided, even among chiefs in the region, some in favor of, and some against it.

It is therefore, very important that there must be consultations with the various stakeholders before a final decision on the region is reached.” Nana Alloh bemoaned the dwindling role of traditional leaders in the governance of the nation, which he said had made them relevant only as functional heads and custodians of culture and called for a ‘rethink of the role of chiefs in the governance of the nation’.

He also called for the revision of the Volta Region Development Agency (VORDA), established by Togbe Afede XIV, the Regional Coordinating Council and the business community in 2009 as a regional development authority.

Nana Alloh said although VORDA was instrumental in attracting foreign investors, hiccups such as difficulties in the acquisition of land had caused its dormancy. He said a reorganization of VORDA could play a critical role in government’s “one district, one factory” policy and the industrialisation of the Volta Region. Nana Alloh therefore called for support from government in that regard and appealed to it not to abandon social interventions initiated by the previous administration