Ahafo Chiefs to Utilise Mining Royalties to Develop New Region

The Ahafo Council of Chiefs on Tuesday affirmed their determination to use their mining royalties to speed up development if the proposed Ahafo region is created out of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Council, which is made up of traditional authorities in the Ahafo part of Brong-Ahafo Region, is spearheading the proposed creation of the Ahafo Region.

At a public hearing on the creation of the Ahafo Region on Tuesday in Sunyani, Nana Yaw Ansah Adu-Baah II, the President of the Council said as Newmont Ahafo Mine expanded its operations to Ahafo North, mining royalties paid to the traditional authorities in the area were also expected to increase.

This, Nana Adu-Baah II who is the Paramount Chief of Yamfo Traditional Area, said would enable the chiefs and the District Assemblies to utilise the royalties for infrastructural development.

The hearing was organised by the Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey’s Commission of Inquiry looking into the creation of the new regions.

The nine-member commission had ended public hearings for the proposed Bono East Region and was expected to hold similar hearings at Goaso, Sankore, Bechem and Kukuom.

Nana Adu-Baah II expressed concern about lack of a government hospital and inadequate health facilities in the area, saying the creation of the region would enable the area to access such facilities for quality healthcare delivery.

He also raised concern about the deplorable condition of roads in the area, indicating that as the food basket of Brong-Ahafo, food stuffs always got rotten in the farms as commercial drivers in the area could not ply the roads to the farm gates to cart food stuffs to marketing centres.

Nana Adu-Baah explained that the demand and struggle for the creation of the Ahafo Region started 40 years ago and commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for that decision.

Earlier, Justice Brobbey, who is a retired Supreme Court Judge, advised the people to justify their quest for the creation of the new region.

Source: GNA