A local government analyst, George Kyei Baffour says the dismissal of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ahafo Ano South undermines the security of tenure of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
According to Mr. Kyei Baffour the decision by the ministry and the president to sack the DCE ‘’is tantamount to arbitrariness’’.
He explained that even though the constitution enjoins the President to either appoint or disappoint with recourse to any authority or group of persons, he [the president] in the first instant punished the DCE, Gabriel Barima for his misconduct by asking him to apologize to the chiefs and people of the district, which he did without hesitation.
“Now he [DCE Barima] talks to a journalist in-camera and then the journalist decides to publish the discussions for the consumption of the general public….’’
Mr. Kyei Baffour further stated the dismissal of Mr Barima as a result of a private conversation he had with a journalist ‘’was a second punishment’’.
‘’The interview granted was not for public consumption, so whatever the man intended was not for public consumption; but to go ahead and dismiss him on the basis of this undermines the security of tenure of MMDCEs…,’’ he noted.
The National Executive Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Sunday in a press statement asked President Mahama to re-appoint Gabriel Barima, popularly known as the “Tweaa DCE”.
The party opined that it has conducted its own investigations into the circumstances under which Gabriel Barima was sacked as District Chief Executive for Ahafo Ano South and believes President Mahama did not receive detailed briefing on matter before sacking the DCE.
But Mr Kyei Baffour further stated the if the President re-instate the DCE it will bring peace and tranquility in the NDC and vice versa.
Meanwhile, a group calling itself Concerned Members of the NDC in the Ahafo Ano District say they oppose the calls by the party’s NEC for the re-instatement of Gabriel Barima.
Spokesperson for the group, Halim Salifu in an interview with Citi News said the group wants a competent and unifying person for the position.
”Everybody is very peeved with the current development; what we want is that they [NDC] should open up and do the vetting and give the position to a competent person,” he said.
Mr. Barima was sacked after he asked for royalties for the use of ‘tweaa’ in an interview. In that interview he said he deserved royalities for popularising the word ‘tweaa.’
The former DCE shot to national fame when a video of him berating a hospital worker at a durbar went viral. In the said video, he stormed out of durbar after telling a worker who reportedly said ‘tweaa’ halfway through his speech.
His manner and actions in the video was criticized with some calling on the presidency to fire him for disrespecting the people of the area.
He was however warned by the Ministry of Local Government and ordered to apologise but was subsequently fired for second interview by the president.
By: Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana