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The Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Dan Kweku Botwe has disclosed that all the Parliamentarians and Chiefs whose regions are to be divided to create new administrative regions were duly consulted before the Justice Brobbey Commission was introduced to them to commence their work.

According to the Okere lawmaker, it cannot be true that no consultation was made and agreed upon before the Ministry of Regional Reorganization and Development introduced the Justice Brobbey Commission to all the chiefs in the 4 regions, as well as the petitioners who petitioned President Akufo-Addo for the new regions to be created.

Speaking to the Press, Hon. Dan Botwe reminded the public, setting the records straight that even though the President has the mandate per constitution to create a new region, the creation of 6 new administrative regions were proposed by some chiefs and overlords in 4 regions namely Western Region, Brong Ahafo Region, Volta Region and the Northern Region.

He emphasized that in spite of the fact that some groups petitioned His Excellency the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to create new administrative regions, the procedure to creating new regions is enshrined in Article 5 of the 1992 Constitution.

Dan Botwe stressed that upon the request of Civil Society and Traditional Authorities for President Akufo-Addo to create new administrative regions, as the constitution demands, consulted the Council of State and upon their recommendation, Justice Brobbey Commission of Inquiry was established after Constitutional Instrument (CI 105) was published and gazetted.

He added that though this is the first time administrative regions will be created under the 4th Republic, it is not the first time a President has received petition to create these new regions as former President Jerry John Rawlings, former President John Agyekum Kuffuor, the late former President John Evans Atta-Mills, and former President John Mahama were also petitioned.

“There exist significant evidence that the demands for the creation of new regions were not made to His Excellency, the President alone, but also to other political leaders such as His Excellencies Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kuffuor, John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama.  It is obvious that all the past Governments had also been seized with the matter over the years,” he disclosed.

He reiterated that the work of the Justice Brobbey Commission of Inquiry was done in such a way that all the chiefs and traditional leaders were contacted including public hearings to gather the report and submitted to the President.

He recounted that the EC collaborated with the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Subsidiary Legislation to finalize the CI 109 of 2018 for the conduct of referendum which was laid in Parliament on 30th October, 2018 and matures on 29th November, 2018.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has dismissed a suit challenging the planned referendum for the creation of six new regions on Wednesday, 28th November, 2018.

The three plaintiffs argued that it was unconstitutional for the referendum for the new regions to be limited only to the proposed areas.

They further argued that the right thing was to allow all persons in the entire region that will be altered to vote.