Tamale — The Dagbon Traditional Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected the request of the paramount chief of the Mamprugu traditional area Nayiri Naa Mahami Abdulai Bohugu to allow the Chereponi District to be included in the proposed North East Region.
Members of the Dagbon Traditional Council reaffirmed its earlier decision that they were not prepared to allow any part of the traditional area to be added into any new region.
This decision was arrived after several hours of deliberations onthe request brought before it by the paramount chief of Mamprugu traditional area, Nayiri Naa Bohugu pleading with them to allow Chereponi to be added to the proposed new North East region.
The Nayiri request indicated that Chereponi would only be recognised as part of the proposed new region on administrative basis, but not traditionally.
However, the Dagbon Traditional Council, after heated debate on the request concluded that no portion of the area should be carved out for any new proposed region.
"After a careful examination of the cultural, historical and geopolitical implications of the request, the Dagbon Traditional Council decided that it cannot grant this request," they stated.
They explained that they were very supportive of Nayiri in his quest for a new region in his traditional area, but they were not ready to add a single community into the proposed region.
"We are however renewing our unflinching support for your wish of Mamprugu to have a new region," they said.
The Dagbon Traditional Council said the creation of a new region would help facilitate and accelerate development, and hope that the proposed North East Region would go through.
The members under the acting leadership of Kampakuya Na Abduai Yakubu Andani urged politicians to stay away from traditional matters.
The council condemned the political power being deplored to cohesively force the chief and people into accepting to allow Chereponi to be part of the new region.
There is tension in the entire Chereponi District following the announcement that it was being added to the proposed North East Region.
The chief of Chereponi Naa Malba Jamifa Kofi has vowed not to allow the area to be added to the proposed new region.
He has therefore on several occasions sacked officials of the Electoral Commission who were stationed in the area to undertake limited registration exercise.
It took the interventions of both the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and Chereponi District Security Committee (DISEC) to allow the EC officials to carry out their duties there.
