Member of Parliament for Buem constituency, Kofi Adams has observed that residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) in the Guan district have been let down by some key leaders including President Akufo-Addo.

“I feel that the people of SALL; Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi have been let down by all the senior persons who gave them every promise. Indeed, including the president himself,” he said on Tuesday.

His comment comes on the back of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday, that the alleged breach of the rights of residents of SALL was not caused by the then Hohoe MP-elect, hence dismissing the case.

Some people in the region had hauled John Peter Amewu and the Electoral Commission to the High Court contending that by not being allowed to vote in the December 2020 parliamentary elections, their rights have been breached.

The EC had indicated that the people could only participate in the presidential election and not the parliamentary because they had no constituency, thereby asking that they join one of the constituencies to vote.

Expressing his disappointment on JoyNews' PM: Express Tuesday, Kofi Adams said the people of SALL participated in the 2020 referendum because of the promises made them.

“From what I got from the chiefs and other senior persons engagements with them, they were given all the assurances that a district will be created and a constituency will equally be created for them.

“It was upon that, that they went all out to accept and even partake in joining the Oti region,” he told host, Evan Mensah.

Mr Adams noted that even though the Akpafu and Lolobi traditional area did not partake in huge numbers in the referendum; “turnout was very low in these traditional areas because they disagreed in terms of their being asked to join the Oti Region right from the word go, were okay with it.

"So you realise that the turnout in these two traditional areas was quite high [for the presidential elections]."

The Buem MP questions why SALL residents were kept uninformed until the last hour.

"My worry is why we have to wait till 6 December 2020 to issue a letter giving an indication that they were not voting in parliamentary and voting for the presidential," he said.

He, therefore, stands with a CDD-Ghana Fellow, Prof Stephen Kweku Asare on the same programme calling on the EC to conduct a parliamentary elections for the SALL people.

He said the EC is well informed on the provisions in the country’s constitution, especially Article 42 that “you cannot have one constituency that will fall within two regions so every step needs to be taken to create a constituency for the people in these four traditional area.

Mr Adams further indicated that merging four district into one is not optional that the EC or any other person who wants to be fair.

According to him, Buem, Biako and Gyasikan districts existed in 1992 before the Biakoye district “and therefore the Biakoye constituency left Gyasikan district.

“So you cannot move four traditional areas to come and join another constituency that have existed from 1992 that has reach a stage that itself should be divided possibly into two that you are adding them to become one constituency. That should not be any option,” he told JoyNews.