Kete-Krachi, The Obvious Choice As Oti Regional Capital

I will first and foremost commend the President H.E Nana Akuffo Addo for triggering article 5 of the 1992 constitution,the Ministry of Regional Re-Organization and Development,the Commission of Inquiry, the Electoral Commission EC,Joint Consultative Committee(JCC),Chiefs,District organising Committees (DOCs),

the Media,the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the entire citizens of the Oti Region for their great contributions through out the journey toward the smooth and historic referendum for creation of Oti Region from Volta Region.

This is the dream of our ancestors,and aspiration of our forefathers,to have our own region in order to ensure equitable allocation and distribution of resources for economic developments and bring governance closer to the people.

Undoubtedly,the age long petition for the creation of Oti region was primarily anchored on decades of continuous deprivation, discrimination,neglect and underdevelopment,which the government considered out of a desire to solve the economic and developmental problems in the Oti enclave.

we should still never lose sight of the fact that the concern raised in the petition bordering proximity was as a result of our bad roads that makes traveling time consuming,a problem that will be addressed through our developmental concerns raised.

The referendum is over,and the next decision is citing of the regional capital, the government is consulting some technocrats for a professional advice,and several factors like readily available Infrastructure,Existing institutions,Peace and stability of an area will be considered.

Moreover,the government on it part will consider the time and resources available to cite the regional capital,and no government will want to incur more cost in citing a regional capital,also due to the limited time frame to locate a suitable place as a regional capital,the government needs to consider the available accommodation as office space and residency,together with existing institutions to kick start the operation of the newly born Oti region,to save resources and develop other places,for the rapid developments we are so yearning for.

Therefore I will like to bring to the lime light the advantages of KETE-KRACHI as a suitable place for a regional capital,

cataloged in the areas of
1.History
2.Layout
3.Available infrastructure
4.Existing Institutions
(Educational/Health/ Security and Justice/financial/Media/ Hospitality) Others

5.Transportation
6.Agriculture
7.Commercial
8.Tourism
9.Partisan Politics
10.Conclusion
HISTORY
Kete-Krachi is an ancient town in the 50s,where the Germans take rest with their slaves from the Salaga slave market to the south.

And a commercial town where roads Criss crossed to various parts of the country,to the north,south,east and west.

The Kete old town was sacrificed to be submerged in the Volta lake,for the construction of Aksombo dam in 1965,to generate hydro electricity for Ghana.

The town was then resettled to the present location,Kete-Krachi.

Kete-Krachi is the capital of Krachi West District that gave birth to Nkwanta South/North and Krachi East/Nchumuru respectively.

It is located at western part of the Oti Region,covering an area of 14.6 square kilometers,with a population of about 20,000,a densely populated town with vast land for the settlement of an anticipated rapid population the citing of the regional capital will bring.

Kete-Krach is the only town with a presidential lodge built by the late President Ignatius Kutu Acheampong in 1968.

It has the second largest Prison in Ghana built in 1965.

The people of Kete-krachi are very hospitable,peace loving and well educated.

LAYOUT
kete-krachi is a nodal town,well planned with structured layout.

There are tarred roads linking the various communities demarcated into Educational,security and justice,Residencial and commercial areas.

There is a community center,and an Airtsrip with vast flat land that can be easily upgraded into an airport.

Also it has a Ghana Meteorological Service station reporting for the middle belt,that is reason Kete-Krachi is always seen on every weather forecast map.

It is accessible by road transport to the northern regions,crossing the lake with ferry to the Bono East,and to Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

There is a reliable electricity supply by NEDCO/VRA,and a community water supply system and the lake as sources water.

AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
The availability of office space and residence cannot be underestimated,as such some prominent individuals have given out their mansions to government to serve as offices and residency to kick start the administrative operation of the region.

The krachi West District Assembly has about 60 stores and another 30 under construction as office or shop space available for rentals.

EXISTING INSTITUTIONS
EDUCATIONAL Institutions.
Nelson Mandela said "Education is the only tool that can change the world ",premise on this wisdom,to bring change to the Oti Region,we need an environmentally friendly educational area as capital.

These are some educational institutions in Kete-krachi.

•Ghana Education Service district Office.

•KG. 17
•Primary -16
•JHS. -14
•SHS.
√ krachi Senior High School(KRASEC)
√ Krachi Senior High Technical school(KRASTEC)

•Vocational
√ Community Development Technical Institute(ComTech)

•Tertiary
√ Krachi Nursing and Midwifery Training College.

•Non Formal Education Office.
•Library
•NOV/DEC WAEC Center
•Information Communication and Technology(ICT) center.

HEALTH
Health care delivery systems are very essential to satisfy the health needs of the people.

Kete-krachi has a wall fenced 350 bed capacity, well resourced District hospital with about 7 Doctors,and serving as referral center for Kpandai,Krachi East/Nchumuru,Sene East/West,Atebubu etc.

The hospital has a vast land that can be used for further upgrading of the facility.

Moreover, Kete-krachi has a private hospital with about 50 bed capacity,called Dr. Bawiah Memorial hospital.

SECURITY AND JUSTICE
Kete-krachi has the presence of all the security services and justice delivery systems to deal with crimes and protect the life and property within the region.

•Divisional Police headquarters
•District Police Station
•District Magistrate court
•Ghana Prison Service
•Military Barracks
•Navy Barracks
•DVLA
•Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.(CHRAJ)

•Ghana National Fire Service.
•Social Welfare office
FINANCIAL
Financial institutions are very important to the existence of every regional capital,to serve financial needs of the people.

Kete-Krachi has these financial institutions below
•GCB Bank
•Kaakye Rural Bank
•Kete-krachi Community Cooperative Credit Union(KKCCCU)

•MASLOC office
MEDIA
It is for a reason that the media is referred to as fourth estate of the realm,which presupposes the relevance of the media to disseminate information to the people for effective governance,that is the reason the government has regional broadcasting stations in all regions,and Kete -krachi is the only town with a government broadcasting station called

•GBC Kaakye Fm
•GTV Digital Terrestrial transmission.
•There is Nyewaase Fm, a private radio station.

HOSPITALITY
In the area of the hospitality industry, Kete-krachi has the following.

•Royal Lake View Hotel, a 3 star hotel.

•Simon Hotel
•Shiloh Hotel
•Credit Union Hotel
•Thank you Jesus Guest House.
•GES Guest House
OTHERS
kete-Krachi also has the following institutions,
•ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)

•Linguistic
•Town and Country planning
•Audit Service
•National commission for civic Education (NCCE)

•NADMO
•Electoral Commission
•District Health Insurance office
•Rural Technology Facility
TRANSPORTATION
kete-krachi has a large Volta Lake Transport cooperation(VLTC) port that can contain about 5 ferrys,but currently it receives 2,the Yapei Queen and VLTC .

There are Road Transport companies operating in Kete-krachi,like GPRTUC of TUC,OA,BOSS,Metro mass etc plying from Kete-krachi to Accra,Tamale,

Bimbilla,Kumasi,Sogakope etc
AGRICULTURE
Kete-krachi is a farming and fishing community 4th hat cultivate Yam, Maize,groundnut etc.

There is a large natural mango and Shea plantation that can be a source of raw materials for factories.

More also,there is a vast land for irrigational farming.

COMMERCIAL
Kete-krachi has a well friendly bussiness environment,and a very large Fish,Yam,Cereal,vegetable and live stock market,with people coming all the way from Saboba in the North East region,Bimbilla in the Northern region, Kpandai in the Savannah region, Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Sogakope in the Volta region, Ada in the Greater Accra region and,Akosombo in the Eastern region.

Also,it has a buoyant retail business,virtually every corner in Kete-krachi there are container stores for retailing.

TOURISM
kete-Krachi has a very beautiful tourist sites with amazing histories like the,

•krachi Denteh Shrine.
•Shehu Umaru's Grave at Kete lake bank,Shehu Umaru was a poet,

Islamic scholar who first introduced Islam in the Ghana and the sub Saharan Africa,his teachings can be found in the University of Ghana library and in Germany etc.

•Acheampong House.
•Talawudu Beach.
•Royal Lake View Beach.
PARTISAN POLITICS
In the partisan political realm,Kete-Krachi has contributed tremendously to the electoral victory of the NPP and Nana Akuffo Addo.It is the only constituency in the Volta region that has always been loyal by increasing their Presidential results for NPP from 26.9 in 2004,34.3 in 2008,33.9 in 2012 and 44.5 in 2016.

CONCLUSION
Therefore, from the above litany of advantages,like the existence of the divisional police headquarters that supervises all the district police stations in Krachi East/Nchumuru,Nkwanta North/South, Kadjebi,Biakoye and Jasikan.it will be a breach of the police service organizational structures to put the divisional headquarters under a District command,where the former is higher than the later.

Also,the regional GBC radio is already stationed in Kete-krachi,it will a duplication of the existence of a government broadcasting station

in every region.
Hopefully,the listening President will consider Kete-krachi as Oti Regional capital base on its merits.

Hukash Muntari
0547302234
[email protected]
The writer is a Teacher, Youth Activist, Socio-political Commentator and a Columnist at Ghanaweb.Com

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Hukash Muntari < [email protected] >
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2019, 12:11 am
Subject: KETE-KRACHI,THE OBVIOUS CHOICE AS OTI REGIONAL CAPITAL.

To: Modern Ghana < [email protected] >
KETE-KRACHI,THE OBVIOUS CHOICE AS OTI REGIONAL CAPITAL.

By Hukash Muntari
I will first and foremost commend the President H.E Nana Akuffo Addo for triggering article 5 of the 1992 constitution,the Ministry of Regional Re-Organization and Development,the Commission of Inquiry, the Electoral Commission EC,Joint Consultative Committee(JCC),Chiefs,District organising Committees (DOCs),

the Media,the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the entire citizens of the Oti Region for their great contributions through out the journey toward the smooth and historic referendum for creation of Oti Region from Volta Region.

This is the dream of our ancestors,and aspiration of our forefathers,to have our own region in order to ensure equitable allocation and distribution of resources for economic developments and bring governance closer to the people.

Undoubtedly,the age long petition for the creation of Oti region was primarily anchored on decades of continuous deprivation, discrimination,neglect and underdevelopment,which the government considered out of a desire to solve the economic and developmental problems in the Oti enclave.

we should still never lose sight of the fact that the concern raised in the petition bordering proximity was as a result of our bad roads that makes traveling time consuming,a problem that will be addressed through our developmental concerns raised.

The referendum is over,and the next decision is citing of the regional capital, the government is consulting some technocrats for a professional advice,and several factors like readily available Infrastructure,Existing institutions,Peace and stability of an area will be considered.

Moreover,the government on it part will consider the time and resources available to cite the regional capital,and no government will want to incur more cost in citing a regional capital,also due to the limited time frame to locate a suitable place as a regional capital,the government needs to consider the available accommodation as office space and residency,together with existing institutions to kick start the operation of the newly born Oti region,to save resources and develop other places,for the rapid developments we are so yearning for.

Therefore I will like to bring to the lime light the advantages of KETE-KRACHI as a suitable place for a regional capital,

cataloged in the areas of
1.History
2.Layout
3.Available infrastructure
4.Existing Institutions
(Educational/Health/ Security and Justice/financial/Media/ Hospitality) Others

5.Transportation
6.Agriculture
7.Commercial
8.Tourism
9.Partisan Politics
10.Conclusion
HISTORY
Kete-Krachi is an ancient town in the 50s,where the Germans take rest with their slaves from the Salaga slave market to the south.

And a commercial town where roads Criss crossed to various parts of the country,to the north,south,east and west.

The Kete old town was sacrificed to be submerged in the Volta lake,for the construction of Aksombo dam in 1965,to generate hydro electricity for Ghana.

The town was then resettled to the present location,Kete-Krachi.

Kete-Krachi is the capital of Krachi West District that gave birth to Nkwanta South/North and Krachi East/Nchumuru respectively.

It is located at western part of the Oti Region,covering an area of 14.6 square kilometers,with a population of about 20,000,a densely populated town with vast land for the settlement of an anticipated rapid population the citing of the regional capital will bring.

Kete-Krach is the only town with a presidential lodge built by the late President Ignatius Kutu Acheampong in 1968.

It has the second largest Prison in Ghana built in 1965.

The people of Kete-krachi are very hospitable,peace loving and well educated.

LAYOUT
kete-krachi is a nodal town,well planned with structured layout.

There are tarred roads linking the various communities demarcated into Educational,security and justice,Residencial and commercial areas.

There is a community center,and an Airtsrip with vast flat land that can be easily upgraded into an airport.

Also it has a Ghana Meteorological Service station reporting for the middle belt,that is reason Kete-Krachi is always seen on every weather forecast map.

It is accessible by road transport to the northern regions,crossing the lake with ferry to the Bono East,and to Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

There is a reliable electricity supply by NEDCO/VRA,and a community water supply system and the lake as sources water.

AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
The availability of office space and residence cannot be underestimated,as such some prominent individuals have given out their mansions to government to serve as offices and residency to kick start the administrative operation of the region.

The krachi West District Assembly has about 60 stores and another 30 under construction as office or shop space available for rentals.

EXISTING INSTITUTIONS
EDUCATIONAL Institutions.
Nelson Mandela said "Education is the only tool that can change the world ",premise on this wisdom,to bring change to the Oti Region,we need an environmentally friendly educational area as capital.

These are some educational institutions in Kete-krachi.

•Ghana Education Service district Office.

•KG. 17
•Primary -16
•JHS. -14
•SHS.
√ krachi Senior High School(KRASEC)
√ Krachi Senior High Technical school(KRASTEC)

•Vocational
√ Community Development Technical Institute(ComTech)

•Tertiary
√ Krachi Nursing and Midwifery Training College.

•Non Formal Education Office.
•Library
•NOV/DEC WAEC Center
•Information Communication and Technology(ICT) center.

HEALTH
Health care delivery systems are very essential to satisfy the health needs of the people.

Kete-krachi has a wall fenced 350 bed capacity, well resourced District hospital with about 7 Doctors,and serving as referral center for Kpandai,Krachi East/Nchumuru,Sene East/West,Atebubu etc.

The hospital has a vast land that can be used for further upgrading of the facility.

Moreover, Kete-krachi has a private hospital with about 50 bed capacity,called Dr. Bawiah Memorial hospital.

SECURITY AND JUSTICE
Kete-krachi has the presence of all the security services and justice delivery systems to deal with crimes and protect the life and property within the region.

•Divisional Police headquarters
•District Police Station
•District Magistrate court
•Ghana Prison Service
•Military Barracks
•Navy Barracks
•DVLA
•Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.(CHRAJ)

•Ghana National Fire Service.
•Social Welfare office
FINANCIAL
Financial institutions are very important to the existence of every regional capital,to serve financial needs of the people.

Kete-Krachi has these financial institutions below
•GCB Bank
•Kaakye Rural Bank
•Kete-krachi Community Cooperative Credit Union(KKCCCU)

•MASLOC office
MEDIA
It is for a reason that the media is referred to as fourth estate of the realm,which presupposes the relevance of the media to disseminate information to the people for effective governance,that is the reason the government has regional broadcasting stations in all regions,and Kete -krachi is the only town with a government broadcasting station called

•GBC Kaakye Fm
•GTV Digital Terrestrial transmission.
•There is Nyewaase Fm, a private radio station.

HOSPITALITY
In the area of the hospitality industry, Kete-krachi has the following.

•Royal Lake View Hotel, a 3 star hotel.

•Simon Hotel
•Shiloh Hotel
•Credit Union Hotel
•Thank you Jesus Guest House.
•GES Guest House
OTHERS
kete-Krachi also has the following institutions,
•ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)

•Linguistic
•Town and Country planning
•Audit Service
•National commission for civic Education (NCCE)

•NADMO
•Electoral Commission
•District Health Insurance office
•Rural Technology Facility
TRANSPORTATION
kete-krachi has a large Volta Lake Transport cooperation(VLTC) port that can contain about 5 ferrys,but currently it receives 2,the Yapei Queen and VLTC .

There are Road Transport companies operating in Kete-krachi,like GPRTUC of TUC,OA,BOSS,Metro mass etc plying from Kete-krachi to Accra, Tamale,Bimbilla,

Kumasi,Sogakope etc
AGRICULTURE
Kete-krachi is a farming and fishing community 4th hat cultivate Yam, Maize,groundnut etc.

There is a large natural mango and Shea plantation that can be a source of raw materials for factories.

More also,there is a vast land for irrigational farming.

COMMERCIAL
Kete-krachi has a well friendly bussiness environment,and a very large Fish,Yam,Cereal,

vegetable and live stock market,with people coming all the way from Saboba in the North East region,Bimbilla in the Northern region, Kpandai in the Savannah region, Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Sogakope in the Volta region, Ada in the Greater Accra region and,Akosombo in the Eastern region.

Also,it has a buoyant retail business,virtually every corner in Kete-krachi there are container stores for retailing.

TOURISM
kete-Krachi has a very beautiful tourist sites with amazing histories like the,

•krachi Denteh Shrine.
•Shehu Umaru's Grave at Kete lake bank,Shehu Umaru was a poet,

Islamic scholar who first introduced Islam in the Ghana and the sub Saharan Africa,his teachings can be found in the University of Ghana library and in Germany etc.

•Acheampong House.
•Talawudu Beach.
•Royal Lake View Beach.
PARTISAN POLITICS
In the partisan political realm,Kete-Krachi has contributed tremendously to the electoral victory of the NPP and Nana Akuffo Addo.It is the only constituency in the Volta region that has always been loyal by increasing their Presidential results for NPP from 26.9 in 2004,34.3 in 2008,33.9 in 2012 and 44.5 in 2016.

CONCLUSION
Therefore, from the above litany of advantages,like the existence of the divisional police headquarters that supervises all the district police stations in Krachi East/Nchumuru,Nkwanta North/South, Kadjebi,

Biakoye and Jasikan.it will be a breach of the police service organizational structures to put the divisional headquarters under a District command,where the former is higher than the later.

Also,the regional GBC radio is already stationed in Kete-krachi,it will a duplication of the existence of a government broadcasting station

in every region.
Hopefully,the listening President will consider Kete-krachi as Oti Regional capital base on its merits.

Hukash Muntari
0547302234
[email protected]
The writer is a Teacher, Youth Activist, Socio-political Commentator and a Columnist at Ghanaweb.Com