New regions creation: Vote ‘NO’ in referendum – Prof. Kwaku Asare urges

A Ghanaian US-based academia, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare has launched a “Vote No!” “Vote Brown” campaign against the creation of the new regions saying it does not make any economic sense.

In a facebook post sighted by Awake News, the lawyer said the election being conducted for eligible voters to decide whether the six proposed regions: Ahafo, Bono East, Savannah, North East, Oti and Western should be created as new regions or not is flaw and disenfranchises many Ghanaians who should have participated in the process.

According to him, “The total number of registered voters “entitled” to vote in the referendum to create 6 regions is 2,260,724. Put differently, 75% of registered voters are spectators in this significant redrawing of the interior boundaries of the country” hence his decision to publicly campaign against the move.

Citing the Western North Region he said “The proposed western north region has 503,000 registered voters. That is, about 3% of all registered voters.”

“I ask all progressives, patriots and pragmatists to consider the issue of whether creating such small regions make financial and economic sense, keeping in mind that every region should have

1. Regional Police Committee (Article 204);
2. Regional Prison Committee (Article 209);
3. Regional House of Chief (Article 274);
4. Regional Coordinating Council (Article 255);
5. Regional Lands Commission (Article 260);
6. Regional Branch of CHRAJ (Article 220);
7. Regional Branch of NCCE (Article 237);
8. Regional Representative of the Electoral Commission
9. A Representative of the NDPC (Article 86(2)(v));
10. A Representative of the Council of State (Article 89(2)(c));
11. A Regional Minister (Article 256(1));
12. A Regional Deputy Minister (at least) Article 256(2)).”

Casting the minds of Ghanaians in the past of the issues of creation of new regions, this is what Prof. Asare has to say:

In 1959, we created B/A region to accelerate development, alleviate poverty and to bring governance closer to the people.

The same arguments were then used to create 4 more regions from 1960-1983. BTW, the same arguments have also been used to grow the districts from 108 to 254 in less than 3 decades.

Six decades after creating B/A, they are telling us that the creation of B/A and the other regions have not brought the advertised development, or reduced the poverty or brought government closer to the people.