A CHRONICLE OF EVENTS - WHY THE LOWER MANYA KROBO MUNICIPALITY IS NOT TAKING PART IN TODAY’S NATIONWIDE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS (Part 1).
1. In the year 2010, government
stirred an existing boundary dispute between the people of Manya Krobo in the
Eastern Region and their Dangme brothers of the then Dangme West District (now
Shai Osudoku District) in the Greater Accra.
2. The government, through a
Parliamentary Sub Legislation Committee, acted on the Local Government
Instrument 2010 (LI 1983) and illegally moved SEVEN ELECTORAL AREA from the
Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the EASTERN REGION to the Dangme West
District of the GREATER ACCRA REGION.
3. The affected electoral areas which
make up the Akuse township were Akutue, Zongo New Town, Osorkutu, Bungalow, Amedeka,
Salon, and Natriku.
4. Follow this illegal act by
government, the Electoral Commission (EC) attempted to rope in the candidates
of these seven electoral area into the 2010 assembly election under the Shai
Osudoku District INSTEAD the Lower Manya Krobo municipality where they rightly
belong. Note this area carefully.
5. It must be noted that, by this
action, the EC, and government for that matter were ILLEGALLY REDEMARCATING
regional boundaries (the Eastern and Greater Accra regions) in a clear violation
of the provisions in Chapter Two of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of
Ghana.
Note that by moving the seven
electoral areas from Lower Manya Municipality to the Shai Osudoku District,
government/EC were changing the boundaries of two regions, Eastern and Greater
Accra. The constitution listed a series of processes which must be followed, if
regional boundaries are to be changed at any point in time, among which are:
i. The setting up of a Commission of
Enquiry by the President to determine if there is the need and a substantial
demand for the creation, ALTERATION or merger of any region(s). In this case,
they were ALTERING the Eastern and Greater Accra regional boundaries.
ii. If the Commission of Enquiry set
up by the President satisfies itself about the need for the creation,
alteration of boundaries or merger of the regions, it shall recommend to the
President that a REFERENDUM be held to decide on the creation, alteration or
merger.
NB: It is a tall list of provisions,
you may want to refer to Chapter Two of the Constitution and read the
provisions in detail.
Government didn’t go through these
processes and yet it went ahead to move the electoral areas from Lower Manya
(Eastern Region) to Shai Osudoku (Greater Accra region).
6. Government and EC’s action
infuriated the people of Manya Krobo who registered their displeasure by
besieging the Lower Manya Krobo EC office and locking it up. It remained locked
for several months, and impeded the work of the Commission.
7. Then the Manya Krobo Traditional
Council, led by late Nene Azago Kwesitsu (TESCO) and late Mr. Charles Mate-Kole
(Chaley) took the action further by initiating a legal action against the EC
and placing an injunction on the process to restrain the EC from conducting
assembly elections in the municipality WITHOUT the seven electoral areas. The
writ was issued in the Supreme Court on 24th December, 2010, a copy of which I
shall make available on demand.
8.
After one and half years of a NEEDLESS legal battle occasioned by the
action of government (December 2010 to June 2012), the Supreme Court declared
LI 1983 (on which government and EC were basing their action) UNCONSTITUTIONAL
and thus retained the seven electoral areas which were in dispute in Lower
Manya Krobo in the Eastern region. The Court gave its ruling on 13th June 2012.
The nine member panel of judges who sat on the case were Atuguba J.S.C
(Presiding), Dr. Date-Baah, Ansah, Adinyira (Mrs), Dotse, Anin-Yeboah (who has
just been nominated for the position of a Chief Justice), Baffoe-Bonnie,
Gbadegbe and Akoto-Bamfo (Mrs).
9. All this while, the Lower Manya
Krobo municipality was without assembly members. It was being administered by
an Interim Management Committee (IMT) under the leadership of the then Chief
Executive, Hon. Isaac Tetteh Agbo.
10. More than two years after the
nationwide assembly elections were held ( i.e halfway through their four year
tenure), and nearly one and Half years after the Supreme Court ruled on the
dispute in favour of the Chiefs and people of Manya Krobo - retaining the
electoral areas in Lower Manya Krobo -
EC was still not showing any sign of holding the assembly elections,
rendering the Lower Manya Krobo Assembly empty.
11. Government/EC literally had to be
compelled to hold the elections.
a. WHEN WAS THE LOWER MANYA KROBO
ELECTION HELD EVENTUALLY?
b. HOW WAS THE EC COMPELLED TO HOLD
THE ELECTION?
c. WHAT LED TO THE DECLARATION OF
‘SELF-GOVERNMENT’ IN LOWER MANYA?
d. WHO PLAYED WHAT ROLE IN PUSHING
GOVERNMENT AND THE EC TO ACT?
e. WHY WAS THE COMMISSIONER OF KLOMA
GBI AND 13 WOMEN/TRADERS FROM THE AGORMANYA MARKET DRAGGED TO COURT?
f. WHAT BECAME OF THE COURT ACTION
INITIATED AGAINST KLOMA GBI AND THE MARKET WOMEN?
g. WHY WAS THE LEADERSHIP OF KLOMA GBI
DRAGGED BEFORE THE REGIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, CHAIRED BY THE THEN REGIONAL
MINISTER, HON. HELEN ADJOA NTOSO?
h. HOW DID LOWER MANYA KROBO END UP
HAVING ITS OWN CALENDAR FOR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, AWAY FROM THE NATIONAL
CALENDAR?
i. WOULD OUR CALENDAR EVER BE
REALIGNED WITH THE NATIONAL CALENDAR? WHEN? HOW?
I shall return.
klonobi2007@gmail.coma
Published: Monday December 16, 2019
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