Acting chief of the Navrongo Traditional area, Navro-Pio Arthur Wekem Balinia Adda has called on the electoral commission of Ghana to reverse the name of the Atosali/Azaasi electoral area to its original – Akurugu Daboo or take the blame for any loss of lives that may result from violence due to any further delays in reversing the name of the area.
Atosali/Azaasi or Akurugu Daboo became a major hot spot here in the Upper East Region prior to the 2012 general elections after disturbances erupted there over the renaming of the area.
In March 2012, Residents of AKurugu Daboo in the Kassena Nankana east District of the Upper East Region boycotted the biometric voters’ registration exercise to register their disagreement with the change of name of the area from Akurugu Daboo to Atosali/Azaasi electoral area without their consultation. The boycott was later followed by disturbances which forced electoral commission officials to stop the registration exercise in that area. This left many qualified voters in the area unregistered.
Later, a human rights court ruling on November 30, 2012 directed the EC to organize fresh registration for voters in eight communities of the Kasena-Nankana east district including Atosale/Azaasi. New registrations were opened on Monday, December 3, 2012.
However Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood on the last day of that registration exercise revealed that though the people had registered, they still could not vote in the 2012 election because in Regulation 9 (5) of CI 72, the constitutional instrument which deals with an individual’s right to register and to vote, the Electoral Commission (EC) was still prohibited from including in the voters register, the names of persons who qualified to register as a voter for an election but who registered less than sixty days to that election.
One year on, the controversy over the renaming of Akurugu Daboo to Atsali/Azaasi by the electoral commission has resurfaced.
Chief of the Navrongo Traditional, Navro-Pio, Arthur Wekem Balinia Adda at a press conference held at his palace on Friday said the refusal of the EC to reverse the name of the area to its original – Akurugu Daboo is an act of disrespect to the traditional authorithy.
He added that an eruption of serious violence in the area is eminent and the EC should take the blame if it does not act fast in reversing the name.
By: Albert Sore | A1radioonline.com | Ghana
We
will out-list parasitic human in our mist
1st PARAGRAPH
“The Chief and People of Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana East District”.
The Chief and people of Kandiga are not even in the Kassena-Nankana
East, Atosale/Azaasi as they claim is under Kassena-Nankana East.
2nd PARAGRAPH
Kandiga is under Kassena-Nankana West and Akurugu-Daboo Electoral Area
under Kassena-Nankana East then how can Akurugu-Daboo form part of
Kandiga? The Chief of Kandiga, Naba Henry Abawine Amenga-Etego II and
his agents should be checked well because he is a snake under grass
using fickle and fabric information’s to bring jugular breakages between
Kassena-Nankana West and East, more especially Doba and Kandiga. Doba
have since noted as peace and law abiding citizens ever either than
that, the world would have heard about us just like Bawku,
Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo, and even the same Kandiga and Mirigu cases.
On the part of politics/politicians, Judiciary and Electoral Commission
are always particular about security deposits and others, also Electoral
Commission which I think are taking things for granted to allow people
use their office for their parochialism. Bureaucracy is tedious but
sustainable and peacefully.
4th PARAGRAPH
That, “The Navrongo Traditional Council petitioned EC with explanation
that, they were not consulted before the name change from Akurugu-Daboo
to Atosale-Azaasi”. Is it not true? EC in the municipality is operating
on their jurisdiction. Why so without respecting their skins and
calabashes.
PARAGRAPH 5, 6 and 7 cannot rip out but what I want to say is that,
DISEC, RESEC, EC, Local Government, and Government can turn a blind eye
to this problem today without reversing the Electoral Area back to
Akurugu-Daboo to restore the peace which the two parties were enjoying
for about two decades.
8th PARAGRAPH
The name Akurugu-Daboo was already in existence before the Electoral
Area was created. Akurugu-Daboo was a clan name of a family in the area.
Yes. Before the creation of said electoral area, where were they
voting, Kandiga or Doba? It was uniformly agreed on by the Elders of the
said area and the Tindama of that land at Doba in Doba Chief Palace
witness by EC. If EC keeps documents properly they may testify the
processes. To add the schools, Churches, Dam and others are barring
Akurugu-Daboo on documents was it any cause for alarm until the then DCE
Hon. Clotilda Amenga-Etego brought a signboard “Kandiga junction” only
to achieve her aim in which we are facing today.