The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the rest of Ghanaians expect that the relations between the Chiefs and people of the Volta and Oti Regions will be characterized by mutual sentiments of magnanimity and goodwill.
“For decades and centuries, you have lived together in peaceful co-existence, and it is my fervent wish that you cement those relations of amity and peace, as the peoples of the two Regions make systematic efforts to develop their Regions in harmony,” President Akufo-Addo said.
To the peoples of Biakoye, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Krachi East, Krachi Nchumuru, Krachi West, Nkwanta North, and Nkwanta South, the municipalities and districts of the Oti Region, he congratulated them and wished them the very best in their journey towards development, progress and prosperity.
The President made this known on Friday, 15th October, 2019, when he presented the Constitutional Instrument (C.I. 112) to the elders and members of the delegation from the Oti Region, signifying the official creation of the Region.
Addressing the gathering, at an event at Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo noted that the creation of Oti Region, and, indeed, the other five regions, gives the nation another opportunity to reorganize the distribution of public services and infrastructure to serve better the needs of people from these new regions.
“Government is determined to maintain the momentum of the success of the popular demand for the creation of the six (6) new regions. As I indicated to the delegations from North East, Savannah, Ahafo, Bono East and Western North Regions, I constituted, within one week of the declaration of the results of the referenda, a 7-member Government Committee to plan and oversee the rapid development of the new regions,” he said.
The Committee is chaired by the Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Hon. Dan Botwe, MP, and has the Minister for Planning, Hon. Gyan Baffuor, MP; the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Alima Mahama, MP; the Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson, MP; the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; and a Presidential Advisor, Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffuor, as members.
The composition of this Committee, he explained, indicates the seriousness Government attaches to the accelerated development of the new regions.
President Akufo-Addo added that Government has allocated, this year, an amount of GH¢20 million as seed capital for the development of Oti Region.
“Again, I have taken the decision that Dr. Archibald Letsa, the current Minister for the Volta Region, will act as caretaker Minister for the Oti Region until a substantive appointment is made. Dambai has also been chosen as the capital for the Oti Region. I want to assure residents of the Region, however, that Government projects and structures will be equitably spread across the Region,” he said.
