'Residents of Ave Not Against Creation of Oti Region'

By Abigail Annoh

The Chiefs and people of Ave of the Akatsi North District in the Volta Region have urged proponents of the Oti Region to keep focus on the fight for the new region and not succumb to unnecessary pressure.

"We wish to advise our brothers and sisters in the Oti Enclave if they think they need the Oti Region, they should push for it and not succumb to people who are loudest about things that do not concern them while keeping mute about things that are not going on well in their backyard," they noted.

In a statement issued and signed by the President of the Ave Council of Chiefs, Torgbui Nyamekor Glakpe dissociated the Paramountcy from comments making rounds that it opposes the creation of the region and described such rumours as having the tendency of fuelling violence.

"We have never condemned the creation of Oti and other regions in the country as we fully understand the urgent need for such creation to alleviate untold hardships people go through at those places."

"We distance ourselves from people making ethnocentric comments about the creation of the region and condemn their comments as they can lead to avoidable violence."

"If we can depart from colonial districts and be a district on our own to witness development, then we believe the people of the Oti enclave are not far from reality of requesting for a region to also attract development because it is their right to have development in all sectors of the economy.

"The focus of the area is to get a Traditional Council in place which we hope the Ministry in charge is working towards but not to unnecessarily oppose the creation of Oti Region which does not concern the chiefs and people of Ave.

"We support the creation and will urge all well-meaning people who believe in development to support our brothers and sisters within the Oti enclave to have the region created to also experience the kind of development we are experiencing at Southern Volta.

"We thank the government for elevating some district assemblies to municipal status and creating new traditional councils in the region which we believe will definitely inure to the rapid development of Southern Volta," the statement noted.

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