Several traditional rulers from the seven districts of Gonjaland in the Northern Region, with support from politicians across the political divide, are leading the clarion call for a new region to be carved out of the Northern Region.
President of the Gonja Traditional Council, Yagbonwura Sulemana Tuntumba Boresa I, and his vice, Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II, are leading the chiefs, youth and politicians from the Gonjaland to prosecute the agenda.
Unlike other petitioners from the other regions, those from Gonjaland are yet to settle on which name the new region should be given, in the event that it is created by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The team, including the Yagbonwura, Buipewura, members of parliament and district and municipal chief executives from Gonjaland, appeared before the Justice Stephen Alan Brobbey’s nine-member Commission of Enquiry for the creation of new regions out of some existing ones, on Wednesday, November 29, to make their case on why they think a new region should be created out of the Northern Region.
Their argument for the new region as contained in a document they circulated to members of the Commission and the media, lies in the fact that “Gonjaland is endowed with mineral and tourism potential with abundance of arable land, and deserves to be carved out of the Northern Region and made a new region.
“The main reason for the request for the creation of a new region out of the present Northern Region is to accelerate economic development and enhance administrative efficiency.”
The new region, with Damongo as the proposed capital, DAILY GUIDE gathered, would be made up of Gonjas, Vaglas, Salfabas, Lobis, Brifors, Mivors, Mos, Pantras, Dargarbas, Normes, Hangas, Mmras, Tamplumas, Konkombas, Nchumurus, Nawuris, Basaris, Kotokolis, Nchalas, Bators, among others.
The Justice Brobbey Commission was formed by President Akufo-Addo under Constitutional Instrument (CI) 105 to among other things, inquire, pursuant to petitions, into the need and substantial demand for the creation of new regions and, thereby, the alteration of the Western, Brong-Ahafo, Northern and Volta Regions. About six new regions are on the table for consideration.
It is the same CI 105 that mandates the commission to make recommendations to the president, based on its findings, and to specify the issues to be determined by referendum and the places where the referendum should be held, where it makes recommendation for the creation and alteration of regions.
Gonjaland reportedly occupies an area of 37,582 square kilometers, constitutes 53.45 percent of the land area of the Northern Region and the seven districts are Bole, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, West Gonja, North Gonja, Central Gonja, East Gonja, Kpandai.
Former Presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and one of the spokespersons for the Gonjaland petitioners, Dr. Abu Sakara, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the meeting, said Gonjaland, especially Buipe, has the potential of becoming a logistics hub for the development of the entire Northern Region.
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