Ken Kuranchie (Left) and Joseph Otoo (2nd right) with some of the local organizers of the Saturday demo
Members of the Public Action Against Corruption and Abuse (PAAC), a political pressure group, regret that the Western Region has been denied and discriminated against in the distribution of the oil revenue which is sourced from the region.
According to them, ever since Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2007, in the Cape Three Points area off the coast of the region, the area cannot boast of a single completed project that can provide jobs for the indigenes.
‘When the chiefs of the region demanded rightfully, that 10 per cent of the oil resources be allocated to the region, they were insulted left, right and centre. This is in spite of the fact that this was an electoral promise from the mouth of President John Mahama,’ they noted.
They have therefore called on the government to immediately see to the plight of the region and address their problems in order to bring them relief.
This came to light when members of the pressure group addressed a press conference in Takoradi yesterday to officially inform the people in the region about their intended demonstration on Saturday March 8, 2014.
Joseph Otoo, secretary to the PAAC alleged that millions of dollars from the oil revenue was being used on capacity building, while the indigenes suffered bad roads, acute water shortage, frequent power outages and illegal demolition among others.
He said Western Region had the potential to be the wealthiest region just for the sake of the oil found.
‘As at now, the 10 per cent of the oil proceeds promised by President John Mahama and rightfully demanded by the Regional House of Chiefs has not been fulfilled,’ he stated.
He continued: ‘It is also amazing to note that the President also failed to tell Ghanaians about the oil revenue during his state of the nation address.’
He indicated that by now a new refinery should have been under construction in addition to the Tema Oil Refinery especially since the Minister of Energy, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, hailed from the region.
Joseph Otoo alleged that due to bad governance and lack of ideas on the part of Mahama’s administration, the region was still struggling to survive.
‘What the government is doing is rather selling off state assets it had no hand in creating while dissipating the oil resource,’ added.
Ken Kuranchie, an active member of PAAC and the editor of the Daily Searchlight newspaper also regretted that nothing showed oil had been discovered in the region.
He therefore called on all the indigenes of the region and the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis in particular, to join the massive demonstration on Saturday in their numbers to put pressure on President Mahama so the sale of Merchant Bank to Fortiz is reversed.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
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