Committee inaugurated to campaign for Oti Region

The Chiefs and people of the Oti enclave of the Volta region have inaugurated a nine-member committee to undertake the campaign for the proposed “Oti” region ahead of the referendum in December.

The committee, according to the Chiefs, is to disseminate campaign messages across the Oti region and to champion the course of the Oti movement.

Speaking at a mini durbar to commence the inauguration, Nana Bessemu II of Krachi, emphasized that the creation of the new region is not politically or ethnically motivated but to ensure development in the affected areas.

“We wish to state emphatically that the sole object and purpose of the creation of Oti Region is to bring development to the people of the area. The demand for the creation of the new region for us is not motivated by any tribal or ethnic considerations. Any suggestions or imputations of tribal or ethnic agenda to our demand for a new region are either borne out of plain ignorance or deliberate mischief, both of which cannot serve as an excuse for the beating of war drums by our detractors.”

He insisted that the proposed Oti Region “enjoys the most tribal and ethnic diversity” in the country.

“We are socially, politically and religiously fully integrated and we consider it our sacred duty to maintain this unique character of the area,” he added.

EC sets December 27 for the referendum on new regions

The Electoral Commission (EC) has set December 27, 2018, for the referendum on the creation of six new regions in Ghana.

The Commission is currently embarking on a series of activities including the registration of new and continuous voters, the exhibition of the voters' register, as well as processes for the transfer of votes and or the grant of proxy votes.

EC personnel chased out of Akpafu-Odomi
But the process encountered some setback because the people Akpafu-Odomi, a community within the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region, have no intention of joining the Oti Region though they have been earmarked to be part of the new region.

The community denied the Electoral Commission (EC) the opportunity to exhibit its voters' register in the area.

The District Director of the Electoral Commission, Kwabena Kankam, told Citi News the EC had to withdraw its men after they were threatened.

Some stakeholders in the Volta Region are opposed to the creation of the Oti Region.

They argue that they were left out in the consulting processes by the Justice Brobbey Commission. They also insist that every resident in the Volta Region must be allowed to vote in the referendum and not only areas to be captured in the new Region.

Government and the Electoral Commission have  already been slapped with two different suits  over the issue.

'We're not breaking any law in creating new regions' – Nana Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo had mounted a spirited defense of the move to create new regions saying it does not violate the 1992 constitution.

Speaking at a meeting with some chiefs from the Volta Region at the Jubilee House in October 2018, President Akufo-Addo said the government is acting according to the constitution.

“I would not be party to anything that attempts to subvert the constitution of Ghana. I fought all my life for constitutional rule in this country, and if I become president and I am the one undermining the constitution then I'm making nonsense of myself. I wouldn't do that. I don't see this thing as having anything to do with ambitions, dislike or hostility, no. So Torgbui, through you and the senior chiefs that have come with you, I'm pleading with you, let the temperature on this matter come down,” President Akufo-Addo pleaded.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey | citinewsroom.com | Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin