Chief Akwannuasa Gyimah, MCE for Asokwa Municipal Assembly.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Asokwa, Chief Akwannuasa Gyimah says he is hopeful that the assembly would have a presiding member (PM) for the assembly very soon.
Speaking to this reporter, the MCE said it is unfortunate that with four separate meetings and in eight (8) elections no PM has been elected through the process despite two different sets of interested persons filing for the position.
He noted that the assembly has not given up on negotiations and consensus building efforts since it appears the front of the elected assembly members is divided.
The MCE, however, said he has no doubts that both the elected assembly members as well as government appointees still have the best interest of Asokwa at heart and would soften their stance in the next election to possibly give Asokwa a Presiding member from their front.
‘’I am very hopeful that Asokwa would have a PM to steer affairs at assembly meetings and also help in the deliberative functions of the young municipality’’, Chief Akwannuasa stressed.
INTEREST:
Mincing no words the MCE intimated that he has interest in who becomes the Presiding Member of the Asokwa assembly since getting the right person as PM would enhance the pace of delivery of development projects for the municipality.
He said it would be a height of complete irresponsibility for him as MCE not to look out for the best of persons for the position of PM.
He said initial deliberations he was privy to was that the elected assembly members wanted their own to be the presiding member.
So for them to have filed two elected persons to vie for the position at the first and second election meant their front was divided, the MCE disclosed.
‘’ It was not surprising a government appointee showed up to contest at the 3rd and 4th meeting because he seemed to have realized that there was disunity among the elected members’’, the Asokwa MCE posited.
BAKGROUND:
The Asokwa Assembly earlier this year sought to elect a Presiding member (PM) to steer meetings that would be held at the Assembly.
This followed the conduct of fresh district level elections last year, an activity that brought in new members to the various assemblies across the country.
Four elections at two meetings earlier on failed to settle the competition between Oscar Riches, assembly member of Old-Asokwa and Bismark Osei-Tutu, assembly man for the Chirapatre electoral area since neither of them got the two thirds majority required for one to be declared as PM.
Two persons, Nana Yaw Wiredu, assembly man for Ahinsan-Estate electoral area and Dr Kwabena Boadu, a government appointee had their turn to contest for the position after Oscar and Bismark exhausted their mandatory two chances at four elections and as fate would have it the two also at four elections did not get the required percentages to become PM.
Currently, the Assembly is in court with Oscar Riches on what the latter feels is an unclear directive from the Local Government ACT that bars those who have had two chances at a maximum four elections from continuing to file for same position.
