{"id":96173,"date":"2015-03-04T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T06:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=96173"},"modified":"2015-03-04T05:48:40","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T05:48:40","slug":"set-up-interim-ctees-to-run-district-assemblies-until-mp-to-mahama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/set-up-interim-ctees-to-run-district-assemblies-until-mp-to-mahama\/","title":{"rendered":"Set up interim c’tees to run district assemblies until… – MP to Mahama"},"content":{"rendered":"

President John Mahama has been advised to use his powers to establish an interim management committee to manage district assemblies until the District Assembly Election crisis is resolved.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”k5bqeC0C4AlyAbz5Z9qwVhTS2PXElB29″]The Chairman of the Local Government Committee in Parliament, Dominic Azimbe Azumah on Eyewitness News<\/strong> observed that the nation is currently in a \u201ccrisis situation and we should take our time in trying to resolve these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to suspend all activities relating to the District Assembly election<\/strong><\/span><\/a> which was scheduled to take place on March 3.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This was after an aspiring Assembly man, Benjamin Eyi Mensah dragged the Commission to the Supreme Court<\/strong><\/span><\/a> after he was denied an opportunity to file his nomination despite meeting all conditions to contest.<\/p>\n

This was because the EC closed nominations before the maturation of the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 85.<\/p>\n

Since the ruling, the EC has come under intense criticism<\/strong><\/span><\/a> for blatantly disregarding the laws guiding the conduct of the elections and causing financial loss to the state.<\/p>\n

The aspirants contesting the various assembly member positions have also expressed frustration with the situation since their time and resources had been vested in campaigning for the elections.<\/p>\n

The tenure of local assembly members will expire on March 15 but with the suspension of the District Assembly elections, it is yet to be determined whether assembly members will be made to extend their term of office until new members are elected.<\/p>\n

But according to Azimbe Azumah, there is a window of opportunity to salvage the situation while permanent resolutions are being sought.<\/p>\n

\"Dominic<\/a>
Dominic Azimbe Azumah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He pointed out that the President has certain powers which gives him the authority to dissolve an assembly and constitute an interim management committee to run the assemblies.<\/p>\n

According to Azumah, although there are a number of options opened to government, the EC and Parliament, he was certain that constituting an interim management committee to run the assemblies is the way to go.<\/p>\n

This, he said will give ample time to the EC to prepare for the elections.<\/p>\n

He noted that \u201cwaiting for the regulation to be laid in the House and the processes to go through the 21 sitting days of the House before it can mature and then allow the Electoral Commission to commence from there\u201d will affect the running of the various assemblies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suggest that his Excellency should consider using those powers vested on him, convert all the executive committees of the District Assemblies\u2026to see to the day to day administration of the assembly\u2026 to give the Electoral Commission sufficient time to prepare,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @osamidan<\/a>
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