The Asutifi North District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region on Wednesday [22nd March, 2017], failed to elect a new Presiding Member to steer the affairs of the assembly after three rounds of voting.
Two assembly members, Hon. Stephen Kofi Baah, the assemblyman for Manhyia Electoral Area, and Hon. Ebenezer Kwala Addo, an administrator of the Hwidiem hospital and assemblyman for Gyedu Electoral Area, both failed to secure two-thirds of the votes.
The Assembly is composed of 25 elected members and 11 government appointees with the District Chief Executive (DCE) and Member of Parliament (MP) as ex-officio members.
In a welcome address, the acting District Coordinating Director, Simon Asare, said the assembly needs to put in place all the necessary structures to facilitate development and therefore appealed to the house to collaborate and choose a leader to stir the affairs of the assembly.
He noted that with a PM in place, the Assembly can then reconstitute the various subcommittees to facilitate decision making and implementation of projects and programmes of the Assembly.
He opined that if they fail to elect a PM, the Assembly cannot constitute committees to address key issues concerning the assembly.
He appealed to the members to unite for development of the area. In the first round of voting, Stephen Kofi Baah polled 21 votes out of 36 votes cast, and Ebenezer Kwala Addo obtained 15 votes.
None of them got the 25 votes required to represent two-thirds of votes cast. The House was therefore adjourned for some minutes to allow for further discussion and lobbying.
Representatives of Kenyasi No.1, Kenyasi No.2 and Ntotroso Traditional Councils and the Member of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Benhazin Dahah, took turns to appeal to the members to make the development of the area their priority and get a PM for the Assembly.
The Assembly Members however turned deaf ears to the appeal of the chiefs and the MP, as both candidates failed to sail through after the second round of voting. Stephen Kofi Baah increased his tally from 21 votes to 22 votes, while Ebenezer Kwala Addo obtained 15 votes.
The house then agreed on a third round of voting which produced the same results.
The failure of the members of the Assembly to elect a presiding member to preside over their meetings left many disappointed.
The District Director of Electoral Commission (EC), Batong Braimah, who supervised the election, postponed proceedings to the next sitting of the assembly.
The position of Presiding Member became vacant after the former official’s appointment was revoked by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana