Akufo-Addo Wants Report On New Regions Made Public

The President Nana Akufo-Addo has ordered the Ministry of Information to take steps to publish the 398 page report of the Brobbey Commission on the creation of new regions and further make it available to the public.

This is part of a major transparency effort to enable the general public know how the outcome of the consultations for the new regions went.

This comes after the dismissal of a suit seeking to challenge the decision of the EC to only allow residents in the affected areas to vote in the referendum after the Supreme Court recently gave clearance to the Electoral Commission to hold the referendum in selected areas earmarked for the creation of new regions.

Some have described as needless the recommendations of the 19-member Commission which held nationwide consultations and urged the government to create the administrative regions to be known as the Oti, Ahafo, Brong East, Western North, North East, and Savannah regions.

The NDC Minority in Parliament has specifically requested the government to make the report available.

Addressing the press on Sunday, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated that his outfit will abide by the President’s order.

Mr. Oppong also read excerpts of the President's instructional order.

“I am of the firm view that the dictates of good governance and transparency of a public space in a functioning democracy should lead me to authorize prior to the planned referenda of the Electoral Commission on the 27^th of December publication of the report of the enquiry into the creation of new regions. I am thus instructing the ministry to see to the immediate publication and dissemination of the report of the Brobbey Commission”, the president stated.

Modes of publication

The Information Minister further outlined the channels by which the report could be accessed.

He said the Ministry will among other things mainly use the official government of Ghana website and social media handles.

“In the coming week therefore, the Ministry of Information in accordance with the President's instruction will publish the report in full on government's online portal, www.ghana.gov.gh as well as our social media handles. Copies of the report will also be made available to parliament and subsequently disseminated across key stakeholder groups nationwide. This is being done in accordance with Article 5”, he said.

Publish Brobbey report on the creation of new regions – Minority

Earlier, the Minority in Parliament had earlier demanded immediate publication of the Justice Brobbey Commission report which recommended the creation of six additional regions in Ghana.

According to Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, it is in the interest of transparency for the recommendations and other details of the commission's report to be made public.

Addressing the press, Haruna Iddrisu indicated that it is not right for Parliament to consider a Constitutional Instrument when there is no report before the House.

“It is in the interest of good governance, openness; truthfulness and transparency that the report of the Commission of Inquiry is made public to enable the nation to verify that the constitutional instrument before Parliament is truly reflective of the contents of the commission's report.”

“It must be opened up to the entire nation to enable us to gain insights into the thinking of the Commission and the constitutionality of its recommendation, and to determine whether the constitutional instrument laid in Parliament truly reflects the recommendations of the commission,” he added.

---CitinewsRoom