The Oti Region, A Catalyst For Development

It will be recalled that, the two major political parties,NPP and NDC,in the run- up to the 2016 elections promised to consider the age long petition for the creation of Oti Region,Premise on this promise and countless petitions,the President of the Republic of Ghana H. E Nana Akuffo Addo as mandated by law triggered article 5 of the 1992 constitution to start the process.

The petition,was basically anchored on decades of continuous deprivation,discrimination,neglect and underdevelopment by the people of the oti enclave,and the creation of oti region will foster developments and bridge the widening gap between the Northern and southern Volta.

Unfortunately,some people are vehemently thwarting this productive agenda for their parochial,whimsical, capricious and avaricious interest,using tribal and political sentiments as conduit,which is a non starter and very baseless,to say the very least.

Therefore,for the records,these are the litany of startling revelations of underdevelopments cataloged sector by sector,from Education,

Health and Security,being suffered by the people in the Oti enclave,because of their geographical location within the Volta region.

To start with,the Volta region is the longest region in Ghana,

stretching from the north,with 59% land mass,and 41% land mass to the southern part, with the regional capital at Ho in the southern part.

The districts in the Oti enclave are disadvantaged in interms of distance,on an average of about 300km from Kete-krachi to Ho, coupled with bad roads,which is evident by the 480km tarred roads in the south as compared to 105km in the north despite the land mass,of which a typical example is the Jasikan-Hohoe Road linking the north to the south is in a deplorable state,thereby traveling to the regional capital will take you about averagely 24 hours.

As Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the weapon that can change the world",and for every nation to be educated,there must be enough educational facilities to educate the human resource,but this truism is a mirage with the inadequate educational facilities in the oti enclave compared to the Southern Volta as stated below;

*Colleges of Education:Oti enclave 2 as against 7 in the south.

*Nursing and Midwifery training College:1 in the oti enclave,to 15 in the south.

*Government senior high schools:17 in the oti enclave,to 79 in the south.

*University of Health and Allied Sciences(UHAS)Campuses:0 in the oti enclave to 3 in the south.

Moreover,Health,they say is wealth,and for that reason a healthy human resource needs accessible health care delivery systems like clinics, poly clinics,Districts and regional hospitals to address their health needs.

unfortunately there is a deficit of healthcare delivery systems in the Oti enclave with the following revelations,

*Government clinics:0 in the oti enclave and 39 in the south.

*Government Poly clinics:0 in the Oti enclave and 2 in the south.

*District Hospitals:4 in the oti enclave and 7 in the south.

*Regional hospital:0 in the oti enclave and 2 in the south.

*Number of public doctors:7 in the oti enclave and 107 in the south.

*Doctors to population ratio:1:105,000 in the oti enclave and 1:16,000 in the south.

Also,for a nation to develop,there must be enough security services to protect lives and properties,bring peace and harmony,in order to attract businesses,but the story is quite ironical in the oti enclave with the inadequate security systems.These are the differences,

*District Courts:2 in the oti enclave and 18 in the south.

*Circuit Courts:1 in the Oti enclave and 7 in the south.

*High Courts:0 in the Oti enclave and 2 in the south.

*Police training school:0 in the Oti enclave and 1 in the south.

*Divisional police command:1 in the Oti enclave and 5 in the south.

*District Police command:4 in the Oti enclave and 25 in the south.

Therefore,with the mind boggling and thought provoking Social and economic disparities above,the only surest way to change the status quo is by coming out in our numbers on 27th December 2018 and VOTE #YES 4 OTI REGION and be part of the history.

Remember,the new Oti Region will get a:
*Regional ministry.
*Regional hospital.
*Regional Coordinating council.
*Regional Police headquarters.
*Regional Prison headquarters.
* Regional Immigration service.
*Regional Military barracks.
*Regional Navy barracks.
*Regional Education office.
*Universities.
*Banks
*Nursing and midwifery training college. *Colleges of Education.

Which will all culminate into jobs for the youths.
also, Government have already set aside $20m for the newly created regions for rapid developments.

Don't let the naysayers deprive you of all these opportunities above,because the creation of Oti Region is Not tribal nor political,but a CATALYST FOR DEVELOPMENT.

#IAM4OTIREGION.
HUKASH MUNTARI
[email protected]
A Youth Activist And Socio-political Commentator.
0547302234
Krachi West Constituency.