Member of Parliament for Buem in the Oti Region, Kofi Adams, has described as unfortunate the failure of the Electoral Commission to present a constitutional Instrument to parliament to create the Guan constituency.

During the 2020 general elections, inhabitants of the area took part in the presidential election but did not vote in the parliamentary election due to a directive from the Electoral Commission (EC) because of the absence of a constituency.

The Constitutional Instrument needed to create the constituency could not mature in the 7th Parliament.

But speaking to Citi News, MP for Buem, Kofi Adams said the EC must take steps to present the required constitutional instrument before parliament.

“The delay is unfortunate because this is something that the Electoral Commission should have speedily acted on because they were the ones who wrote the letter indicating that the area that now forms the guan district will not take part in the elections of MPs on the 7th December 2020… From then till now, they [EC] should have taken the necessary steps to bring a C.I. before this parliament to create a constituency,” he said.

The Guan District consists of the Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) traditional areas.

Some residents from these areas sued the EC over their inability to vote.

The Guan District in the Oti Region was created following a Legislative Instrument laid in Parliament by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in 2019.

The area was previously part of the Hohoe Municipality.

The people of Lolobi and Akpafu have also petitioned the EC on the matter and is still awaiting a response.

In a letter to the EC, they said the EC had “taken our guaranteed rights away from us, thus unlawfully shutting the door on us.”

Among the questions they asked was “under which Constituency were the Presidential election votes of Lolobi and Akpafu collated?,” they quizzed.

They had wished to be part of the Hohoe district during the creation of new regions.