This outcome resolves the tie that necessitated the rerun.

Announcing the results, the Deputy Regional Director of the Electoral Commission affirmed that the election was conducted in a fair and peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Region is also holding a rerun of its Council of State election after the initial poll was suspended due to chaos.

To ensure a smooth process, the venue was moved from the Regional Coordinating Council to the Prempeh Assembly, with heightened security measures in place to prevent disruptions.

A total of 86 delegates are expected to cast their votes to elect the region’s representative on the Council of State.

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The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced a re-run of the Council of State elections in the North East and Ashanti regions.

The exercise is scheduled for Monday, February 17, 2025.

The decision follows a tie in the North East Region and a disruption caused by thugs in the Ashanti Region during the initial voting process on Tuesday.

In a statement, the EC explained that the top two candidates in the North East Region secured six votes each.

“There was a tie in the election in the North East Region. The top two candidates each had six (6) votes. As such, the election has to be re-run,” the statement read.

In the Ashanti Region, the EC says all cast ballots were lost due to the disruption.

The Commission has since taken steps to ensure a peaceful re-run by engaging security agencies.

“The Commission has written to the Ghana Police Service and copied the National Election Security Taskforce to heighten security at the venues of the elections to prevent any disruptions,” the statement added.

The Council of State is a key advisory body to the President of Ghana, and its members are elected from each of the country’s 16 regions.

The Togolese community is said to have been attacked by the armed men who were numbering about 10 on motorbikes. Unconfirmed reports indicate that 08 people were killed during the attack.

Following the attack, residents of Jangbande, Tambeng, and Tantara 2 have abandoned their villages and fled to safety in Bunkpurugu, Wenchike, and Yunyoo, respectively.

Confirming the arrival of more 80 people in Wenchike, the paramount chief, Naa Abubakari Awuffor, said the Chereponi District Assembly authorities have been informed about the situation.

Joy News sources also revealed that security has been reinforced along the border.

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The unfortunate incident occurred after the five illegal miners went to mine at a Chinese abandoned pit in the area.

The North East Regional National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Director, Alhassan John Kweku, confirmed the incident to Adom News.

He explained the dead bodies have been retrieved by family members and buried in accordance with customs and traditions in the area.

He added that after the sad incident, they have planned to fill the pits in the area to avert such a situation but bemoaned it has become difficult to access the area due to the spillage of the Bagre dam.

NADMO, therefore, has called on the residents in the area to stay away from that pit for their own good and appropriate measures will be taken when the roads became accessible.

The two Chiefs are; Wasipewura Anyame Kabasagya II and Soo Naba Nantogmah Seidu of Wasipe Traditional Area and Janga Traditional Area respectively.

The ban, which took effect on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, also affects the warriors and Sub-chiefs from the two Palaces.

The Savannah Regional Minister, Saeed Muhazu Jebreel, who made the disclosure during an exclusive interview with JoyNews‘ Isaac Nongya at Damongo warned that the two Security Councils will not hesitate to arrest the two Paramount Chiefs and deal with them if they continue to create problems at Lukula irrespective of their tribes or origins.

Mr Jebreel stressed that the two security bodies have the mandate to ensure law and order.

“Let me sound this warning to those two chiefs that there is a tendency for them to be arrested if they continue giving us problems in those communities, whether Gonja Chief or Mamprusis Chief. We will make sure we recommend to National Security to pick them up and give peace to the people”, he warned.

According to Mr Jebreel, the two Paramount Chiefs should respect their Kings and allow them to take a decision on Lukula.

“If Wasipewura respect Yagbomwura (King of Gonjas) and Soo Naba in Janga traditional area respects Nayiri (King of Mamprugu), there will not be any problems because the decision the two REGSECs took was that, the two Chiefs should stay off till such a time that the two Regional Houses of Chiefs work for peace to return so that those the Land belongs to, then, the Chiefs of that area will enskin a Chief to take care,” he stated.

“But what the man (Soo Naba Nantogmah Seidu) said is actually making people in my region angry. So, I want to plead with all Gonjas to take everything lightly as we REGSECs are on top of issues.

“We will not allow, whether Gonja or Mamprusi Chief who is there to claim ownership of the place. As long as the two REGSECs are concerned, we are not going to allow anybody to bring disturbances there. We will make sure that anybody who goes in there we will flush him out with the security apparatus on the ground”, the Regional Minister said.

Lukula is a cosmopolitan farming community located in the North Gonja district of the Savannah Region. It has for over a decade, been the center of violent attacks and counter-attacks from the two Paramouncies over ownership and who to rule the town as Chief.

The Regional Minister indicated that a Fact-finding Committee has been set up to probe the matter and enable the Savannah and North East Regional Houses of Chiefs to take a decision on Lukula.

He added, “we are not concentrating on these Sub-chiefs who are there trying to claim ownership of the Land but Nayiri and Yagbomwura to solve the problem.

According to Mr Saeed Muhazu, “if we didn’t move the Gonja warriors from Lukula three days ago, and yesterday and warriors from Soo Naba went, you would have imagined what would happen. Lives would have been lost.”

He said the two Security Councils are on red alert with intelligence on the ground to make sure that every disturbance that will come to Lukula is nipped in the bud.

The incident occurred on Friday, August 27, when the victims, said to be returning from the farm, attempted to cross the Lamm river after heavy rains. 

According to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) report, four individuals were involved, but one managed to swim to safety and reported to authorities. 

Regional Director of the Organisation, John Kwaku Alhassan, said the three bodies, which have since been retrieved and buried, included a young woman.

The incident brings the death toll to eight following torrential rains in the region. 

Two people, including a seven-year-old girl, died in the Bunkprugu Nakpanduri district on Thursday.

Hours later, three young men were also killed by lightning at Tamboku near Dagbriboari in the East Mamprusi municipal. 

The sad incident comes as residents across the region are busy in preparations ahead of the opening of the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso. 

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Previous spills have killed people and destroyed property. Last year, at least 13 deaths were recorded.

In the last few days, farmers along the river have been racing against time to harvest their crops as they seek to minimise the impact of the disaster on their livelihoods. 

The policy, which is a collaboration between government and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL) and its partners, Komptech, is aimed at achieving the clean Ghana agenda.

The Regional Minister, Mr Solomon N. Boar, who performed the brief and colourful sod-cutting ceremony and read the keynote address on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi Municipality, said the execution of the project was aimed at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 8, 11 and 13.

According to President Akufo-Addo, sanitation was a shared responsibility, and thus urged the citizens to participate in activities that would improve their environs.

“Community leaders and local government institutions are therefore, to effectively mobilise citizens for collective actions such as behaviour change initiatives in basic sanitation promotion to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country,” he urged.

He also asked the stakeholders to ensure the timely completion of the project, stressing that the construction must be carried out in accordance with the required standards and specifications.

“The citing of such infrastructure comes with other accompanying benefits of social amenities such as good roads, potable water and extension of electricity which will help improve the local economy,” President Akufo-Addo mentioned.

The President used the opportunity to remind the people in the region to continue to observe the COVID-19 protocols, adding that “the fight against the Covid-19 is still on and my government will continue to put in place measures that will support the fight against the pandemic like free water, for all initiative, which has been extended from the initial six months”.

The Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah whose speech was also read on her behalf said the project formed part of the government’s priority to ensure a clean Ghana.

“This project will help sustain the gains made in the sanitation and water sector,” she averred.

She, therefore, expressed appreciation to Zoomlion for providing pick-ups for the sector and which she said have been delivered to the various security agencies for monitoring of the environment.

“The ministry will continue to do what is necessary to improve upon water and sanitation in the country,” she added.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Madam Florence Larbi, speaking on behalf of the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies/CEO of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, expressed gratitude to His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic of Ghana, for his visionary leadership and personal support to the environmental sanitation sector and private sector development during his tenure of office.

“His commitment and dedication to ensuring a clean Ghana is very much appreciated. We as the leading waste management company in Ghana and other parts of Africa will continue to contribute our quota to make his vision for this sector a reality,” she assured.

It is a 200-ton waste treatment facility equipped with 21st Century technologies in sanitation management,” she revealed.

She explained that it will aim at providing a sustainable solution to recover and recycle over 60% of the organic fraction of the waste into compost to boost the agricultural sector and support the Planting for Food and Jobs Agenda.

“Other recyclable materials will also be separated and processed for reuse,” she added.

Furthermore, she said the waste treatment plant, when completed, will present the most suitable alternative to landfill waste disposal, deploying the latest technologies in sanitation management, adding that it will serve communities like Nalerigu East Mamprusi, West Mamprusi, Bunprugu, Yunyoo, Chereponi and other surrounding districts.

According to Madam Larbi, the region generates 100,000 tons of waste annually, adding that most of it go into landfills, making it hazardous to the citizenry adding that the facility has the potential of curbing this.

“The projects are estimated to cost 15 million Euros and will be completed within 4 months,” adding that it will create 250 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs for the teeming youth in the region

He has also indicated that government through the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) will do everything possible to ameliorate their plight while working towards returning life to normal for them.

The Vice President had to cut short his four-day campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region to assess the extent of devastation following the floods.

“I share in your loss and I wish to assure you that the government through the NADMO is working round the clock to bring life back to normalcy. It is not only you who are affected by this flood; it is all of us that is why I rushed here to see you and determine the best help we can provide”, he disclosed.

He presented food items including several bags of maize, toiletries, rubber buckets, mattresses, mosquito coils, bales of used clothing plastic plates and drinking cups as well as cash, to the over 1,000 displaced persons.

Residents of four villages, Gaagbini, Dimia, Tinkaya and Banawa woke up on Thursday to see their communities totally submerged in flood waters following massive torrential rains that forced the banks of three dams to break, allowing the water from the dams to rush into the villages.

Thousands of acres of farmlands have not been spared, while livestock has been carried away by the flood waters.
Displaced persons in the affected communities are currently putting up in temporary structures including school blocks and offices of the Municipal Assembly.