President Akufo-Addo yesterday announced the creation of two more regions in addition to the existing 14 regions.

The new regions, created with Constitutional Instruments (CI), are the Western North carved out of Western Region and Oti Region carved out of the Volta Region.

Sefwi Wiawso is the capital for Western North Region, while Dambai is the capital for Oti Region.

The Akufo-Addo administration has created six new regions in fulfillment of one of its major manifesto promises. Presently, Ghana has 16 regions.

So far, government has committed an amount of GH¢120 million as seed money to help to set up structures for the new regions, with an amount of GH¢20 million allocated to each region.

President Akufo-Addo promised to ensure equitable distribution of national resources.

He has since directed Western Regional Minister Dr Kwaku Afriyie to serve as caretaker minister for the Western North Region until a substantive one is appointed.

President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Sefwi Wiawso Traditional Area, Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, thanked President Akufo-Addo for the honour done them, and fulfilling a campaign cum manifesto promise.



He said demand for the region started in the 1950s, but all attempts to get successive governments to do it literally fell on deaf ears.

For him, the creation of the Western North Region was a dream come true.

He also expressed hope that the move would set the area on a path of growth and development.

He said: “We, the chiefs and people, pledge our unflinching support in your quest to make Ghana a better place.”

People from the Oti Region who had gathered at the forecourt of the Jubilee House jubilated wildly when the president named Dambai as capital for the region.

The Krachiwura and head of the delegation, Nana Mprah Besemuna, thanked President Akufo-Addo and his administration for paying heed to their request for a region several years after similar requests to successive governments failed to yield the desired result.

He also thanked all who supported their cause from the beginning when it started before independence.

According to the president, “The creation of the Oti Region and indeed the other five regions gives the nation another opportunity to reorganize the distribution of public services and infrastructure to serve better the needs of people from these new regions.”



To that end, he indicated that “government is determined to maintain the momentum of the success of the popular demand for the six regions as I indicated to the delegation from North East, Savannah, Ahafo, Bono East and Western North regions. I constituted within one week of the declaration of the results of the referenda a seven-member committee to plan and oversee the rapid development of the new regions.”

The committee is chaired by the Minister for Regional Re-organisation and Development, Dan Kwaku Botwe; Minister for Planning, Professor Gyan Baffour; Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama; Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson; Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah and Presidential Advisor, Dr Kwame Amoako Tuffuor as members.