Government committed to creating Ahafo Region — President
President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced the government’s readiness to put measures in place to fulfil its election pledge of creating another region out of the Brong Ahafo Region within the next 18 months.
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The creation of a region for the Ahafo part of the existing Brong Ahafo Region and other areas should. however, undergo constitutional processes which would need the input of the people.
Nana Akufo-Addo gave the assurance during a mini-durbar at the Acherensua Senior High School last Wednesday during his two-day visit to the Brong Ahafo Region.
He was accompanied by the Minister for National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, who is a former student of the school, and other ministers of state.
The President launched the government’s flagship agriculture programme dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs” at Goaso and also assured Ghanaians that the creation of the new region would be a reality.
Chief of Acherensua
Welcoming the President, the Omanhene of the Acherensua Traditional Area, Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, bemoaned the absence of a university at the Ahafo side of the Brong Ahafo Region.
“It is regrettable that even the religious bodies are shying away from establishing universities in this side of the region”.
Agyewodin Ampem cited the establishment of the University of Energy and Natural Resources and the Catholic University College at Fiapre, among others, to buttress his point and called on the government to establish a public university to see to the tertiary education of the youth in the area.
He also pleaded that additional dormitories for the Acherensua Senior High School be constructed, as well as the rehabilitation of the science laboratory of the school.
Agyewodin Ampem also expressed concern about the activities of chainsaw operators in the Bosomkese Forest and called on the government to put measures in place to halt the depletion of the forest resources.
President’s response
In response, President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that the rehabilitation of the science laboratory would be his personal project.
He referred the request for the construction of other facilities for the school to the Ministry of Education and asked the sector minister to see if the request could be granted.
Regional Minister
Earlier the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, thanked the people for voting overwhelmingly for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2016 general election despite intimidations by some elements in the area.
He disclosed that a task force had been established to deal with illegal chainsaw operations which were causing a lot of damage to the forest reserves in the region.
Mr Asomah-Cheremeh warned that the cup of the perpetrators would soon be full and they would face the full rigours of the law.
Earlier, President Akufo-Addo and his entourage visited the Newmont Ahafo Gold Mine at Kenyasi and held a closed-door meeting with officials of the mining company.