CARVE UP ANOTHER REGION FROM NORTHERN REGION (Page 20)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga

A leading member of the Bolgatanga branch of the Gonjaland Youth Association, Mr Sulemana Ameenjako, has added his voice to calls for the creation of a new region out of the Northern Region.
According to Mr Ameenjako, when that idea was carried out, it would afford the government an opportunity to spread development to every corner of the country.
“The creation of a new region would allow for the rapid development of the area,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga.
Mr Ameenjako alleged that more often than not, development within the Northern Region was centred on Tamale and a few communities to the neglect of other places, stressing that “this does not augur well for national integration”.
He said it was in that regard that he would support any move to have a new region to cater for the development needs of the remaining areas.
Mr Ameenjako, also known as Flash, stated that the creation a new region would open up the area to development, adding that Gonjaland for instance boasted of natural and economic resources including tourist sites and fertile land suitable for agricultural activities.
“In terms of tourism, we have areas such as the Mole Game Reserve, the Larebanga Mosque, the mystery stone which when well developed could boost the economy of the area,” he stated.
Mr Ameenjako debunked assertions that the call for the creation of a new region was based on ethic consideration, stressing that Gonjaland consisted of about 28 tribes which had all lived together in peace over the past years.
“The call for a new region is mainly based on the need for accelerated development and nothing else,” he stressed.
 Mr Ameenjako, therefore, called on the government to consider the development of the entire area and give the issue a serious consideration it deserved.