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Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 election has said he would consider a request to carve a region out of the Upper East if he wins the election.
The suggested Kusaug Region which consists of Bawku, Pusiga, Zebilla, Garu, Tempane and Binduri, the former president said meets the constitutional threshold – population and land area – to be elevated to a regional status.
• Mr Mahama with the Bawku Naba
He said considering the security challenge of the area, a new region would allow the security agencies have a focused attention on the area whiles bringing developments closer to the people.
The NDC leader gave this indication in response to a request by the Bawku Naba, Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, for the region when he visited the Bawku palace on day one of his Upper East regional campaign tour on Saturday.
Speaking through an interpreter, the Bawku Naba said the request if considered would drive the development of the area.
“My traditional area which is vast in land mass and densely populated deserves upgrading to regional status. This, we believe, will bring governance closer to the people leading to a wider benefit of the national cake by all in Kusaug,” Asigri Abugrago Azoka II posited.
The Bawku Naba also wants the former president to take all legal steps to restore peace and tranquility to the area and elevate the Savanna Agriculture Research Institute into a university to give educational opportunities to the youth of the area.
Responding to the request at a durbar of chiefs and people of Bawku, the former president said the request is already in a motion and a new NDC government would give it a thought.
“Your Member of Parliament, I’m aware has written a letter to the Speaker requesting that another region should be created out of the Upper East Region to cover the six constituencies in the Bawku area.
“Bawku Naba raised it with me, and I told him in principle I think it’s a good idea for two reasons. One, for the reason of bringing government closer to the people. That’s the principal reason for which we create new regions and new districts.
“The second reason is for security. Bawku is a special security zone because of the issues that have been happening here. And so it would be a good proposal to have a region so that it can be a focus to make sure that we deal with the security issues as well as we can.
“And so, I don’t think it’s out of place because the criteria are dependent on population, they are dependent on land size, and they are dependent on economic viability,” he said to cheers from the gathering.
The Kusaug area, the former president said holds high economic value and would be a focus of his next administration.
Top on the agenda for the area would be to restore lasting peace to Bawku and its environs to allow the people go about their daily activities without hindrance, he added.
The campaign tour also took the former president to Pusiga, Garu, Tempane where he addressed mini rallies and interacted with other interest groups.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, BAWKU
