The Minister said the government will always be open to receiving petitions for the creation of additional regions.
According to him, if all the necessary conditions for the creation of a new region are met, then there is no reason why it should be held back.
He was, however, quick to add that any petition in this regard must go through the necessary processes which ends with a ‘yes’ vote in a referendum.
“Yes we could [get more regions] because the constitution doesn’t set any limit but it is always subject to advise from the Council of State and a report from the Commission of Inquiry,” Dan Botwe said on Citi TV.
“The people too must express their like for the new region in a referendum. They must confirm their interest in a [massive] YES vote. So these are things that you have to go through. [But] the fact that they have petitioned does not automatically mean they will get it.”
Ghana currently has 16 regions following the creation of six new regions last year.
The new regions are the Savannah, North East, Bono East, Ahafo, Western North and Oti regions.
The Minister further revealed that there were other areas whose petitions to join the newly created regions were turned down.
“There were others who wanted to be part of certain regions which the commission did not agree. Amenfi North wanted to be part of Western North region, but were not allowed. If you go to Kpandai, if you look at their petition and the map they attached, they wanted to be part of Savannah region but the commission did not recommend that. So it is not as if anything you want, you will get it,” he added.