The Chief of Kete, Major Abu Safiano Baba (rtd), has said that people of Oti enclave in the Volta Region do not owe any allegiance to any chief in the southern part of the region.
He explained that the people of Kete respect Togbe Afede and his position as the president of the National House of Chiefs, but the position does not make them subservient to any chief in the south.
“They know very well that no single chief in the Oti enclave owes allegiance to any other chief in the south of the Volta Region,” he declared.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, he noted that the creation of a new region should not create enmity among the people of the Volta Region.
“The creation of regions is for administrative purposes and has nothing to do with traditional boundaries”, he stated.
Furthermore, he indicated that pronouncements such as the creation of new regions would lead to chaos and tribal conflicts did not auger well for the peace and unity of the country.
He therefore urged sincere Ghanaians who have issues with the process to seek legal redress even though he believed there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about the process as the government had followed due processes so far.
“He who claims to raise legal issues must be able to tell us his legal basis. The creation or alteration and merger of regions are guided by elaborate provisions of Article 5 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic” he said.
He also made mention of some developmental disparities between the southern Volta and Oti enclave to include Southern Volta that has 79 senior high schools, while Oti enclave has 17.
The Southern Volta, he added, is known to have 480 km of tarred road, 15 midwifery colleges and 39 government clinics, while the Oti enclave has 105 km tarred roads, one midwifery college and no government clinic.
Major Baba also waded into the political sentiments debate by saying that both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had campaigned on creating new regions prior to the 2016 election.
“So where is the evidence that this is an NPP agenda?” he queried.
“They pretend to be unaware of the fact that people within the Oti enclave had by themselves sent countless petitions to the president, thereby triggering the constitutional processes of Article 5,” he added.
He cited names of some prominent people from Southern Volta who have made derogatory statements about the creation of the new region.
“Rev. S.S. Agidi, the Moderator of the E.P church, has openly declared his opposition for the creation of the proposed Oti Region, describing the move as a recipe for chaos and tribal conflicts. Also, Goviafe Chief has been heard to have said that the Ashantis were behind the Oti agenda,” he said.
According to him, the anti-Oti agenda pushers are now blaming the NPP government for advancing their political motive through creation of new regions.
He posited that if indeed the creation was along an ethnic line, there would not be support from prominent ewes such as former Minister of State for Tertiary Education, Elizabeth Ohene, and the ewe community in Oti enclave who held a press conference at Dambai on November 8 to support the creation of the region.
The chief has for that matter called on civil society organisations and governmental bodies such as the Christian Council, National Peace Council and the Council of State to call to order, groups and individuals that are stoking tribal sentiments amidst the creation of new regions.
“They should remember that the world suffers not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people,” he said.
Source: Daily Guide
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