By: Anthony Danquah |Â
My attention has been drawn to an incredulous publication of January 18, 2018 on www.myjoyonline.com with the above caption which seemed to suggest that Chiefs, people and representatives from Kadjebi, Biakoye, Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, Lolobi and Jasikan had thrown their weight behind Jasikan to serve as the capital for the newly endorsed Oti Region out of the Volta Region.
It is unfortunate that a viral message with no authority, purposely for propagating falsehood, on WhatsApp could be given such prominence on a rather credible news portal like www.myjoyonline.com.
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I wish to appeal for restraints from all well meaning people of the endorsed Oti Region regarding the current discourse on the location of the regional capital especially, the media publications going round, suggesting that some particular place got the majority endorsement.
The Regional Capital Presentation exercise which took place barely a week ago in Accra, from my understanding, was not to call for a headcount to determine winners and losers of persons bidding for the capital nor was it to take a final decision on a proposed capital. That would have been clearly outside the mandate of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC).
The essence of the exercise was towards consensus building in the spirit that had begun from the date of the fight for the region.
The JCC was constrained with time in that it was unable to even set out the criteria for consideration in advance for preparation towards the presentation until the date of the meeting. While this was very well understood, acknowledged and appreciated by the various representatives for the presentation, it appeared to have been set out by persons who favoured a particular location as the capital on that day.
Therefore, the claim that the JCC had early on approved a 10-point criteria as the basis for analysing and selecting an appropriate location for the capital in the reportage is misleading, and a mere inferior communist’s tactics to court undeserved attention from the team of technocrats mandated to identify the capital for the new region.
It is important to appreciate that the choice of a regional capital is not intended to serve people or interests of today but generations yet unborn. It must therefore be highly representative, inclusive, fair, transparent, and futuristic.
The schemes in the press are rather unnecessary. The inputs from the JCC should only provide a guide to the technocrats who we, the people of the endorsed Oti Region, trust will do a good job that will be appreciated by us and the good people of Ghana as a whole.
NB: The writer is a youth from the newly endorsed Oti Region, resident in Accra.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com
