As a permanent fix to decongest Accra, the Government will soon begin the design and feasibility study for a new city, President John Dramani Mahama, has said.
He said some of the government
offices and agencies would be moved out of Accra to the new city.
“I believe that this city will be
located somewhere on the Accra plains from Bundasi, straddling across Greater
Accra, Eastern Region and Volta regions. The city will straddle three regions,”
President Mahama stated in his remarks at a grand durbar of the Chiefs and
People of the Greater Accra Region at Dodowa.
The “Thank You Tour” is to enable the
President to express gratitude to the Chiefs and People of the Greater Accra
Region and Ghanaians, for their massive support for him and the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 general election.
President Mahama reiterated that the
new city would stretch to the banks of the Volta River and there would be a
railway link and an expressway that would link the new city to Accra.
Touching on Chieftaincy Disputes, the
President said while governments constitutionally could not interfere in the
internal matters of traditional institutions, they were deeply concerned by the
impact of unresolved disputes on the development of our traditional areas in
Greater Accra.
He therefore urged all traditional
councils to utilize the structures of the National and Regional Houses of
Chiefs to resolve matters of chieftaincy with dignity, true dialogue and with
mutual respect.
He said the Ministry of Local
Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, stands ready to support and
facilitate any resolution mechanisms fairly and neutrally. President Mahama
said one issue that was repeatedly raised during his engagement with
communities across the Greater Accra Region was the matter of state lands and
ancestral Ga-Dangme lands.
He said these concerns were valid and
that he understood the historical injustices and emotional depths tied to the
matter.
President Mahama noted that as a
result, one of the first directives he issued upon assuming office as President
was to direct the Lands Commission to halt all sale and processing of all
government lands.
He reiterated that the directive was
still in force.
The President said following the
receipt of the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) Committee report, the
Attorney General initiated investigations into the alleged looting of prime
government and Ga-Dangme lands that were sold to individuals with political
influence, some for as low as GH¢45,000; saying “meanwhile, these are lands
whose values run into millions of cedis”.
President Mahama said it was in that
spirit that he announced that following these investigations, they would
consider the formation of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the
acquisitions, allocation, and use of public lands in Greater Accra.
He said this Commission would work
with the chiefs, legal experts, historians, and affected communities to produce
a comprehensive report, and this outcome would guide a lasting and just
solution to a matter that had lasted for far too long.
Source
: GNA