Ms. Abdulai making her appeal to the President through the Commission at the public hearing held at the Accra Conference Center.
Some female head porters, popularly known as ‘Kayayie’ from the Northern Region, stormed the Accra International Centre during the public hearings into the creation of the proposed North East Region on Tuesday in Accra to appeal to President Akufo-Addo to consider the calls for the creation of the proposed new region.
Petitioners for the North East Region are seeking to encourage the President to carve the North East Region out of the Northern Region.
When the opportunity was given to people to make their contributions during the hearing organized by the Justice Stephen Alan Brobbey Commission of Inquiry, the Kayayie took their turns to make their case.
One of the Kayayie named Samiatu Mejida, who hails from Gambaga but plies her trade in Accra, said, “We are suffering in Accra but we have no option since there are no economic activities in our part of the Northern Region. We sleep on the streets of Accra, leaving out kids vulnerable to mosquito bites and malaria. When our babies fell sick and we take them to hospitals for treatment, they die on admissions due to lack of funds for medical bills. There are times when Kayayie have had to abandon corpses of their babies in hospitals due to the lack of funds.”
She pointed out that the creation of the new region will bring development that can make them (Kayayie) return to their homes and live in dignity.
Another Kayayi, Zilata Abdulai from Kubugu said with the creation of the new region, agricultural activities will boom which will create jobs for the youth.
The various petitioners for the North East Region are from Chereponi, Yagaba, Mamprugu Moaduri, Bunkpuru, among others.
Spokesperson for the petitioners, Prof John Nabila, Wurugu Naba, in his final presentation, said there was a substantial demand for the creation of the North East region.
According to him, the area lacks schools, roads and other social amenities, adding that the main hospital in the area is the Baptist Medical Hospital.
He indicated that most of the developmental projects in the Northern Region have been executed in Tamale and that North East side was highly deprived.
Upper East was the last region to be created in 1983 when the country’s population was about 12 million.
With the increased population, which is currently around 28 million, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, believes the time has come for a new region to be created.
BY Melvin Tarlue