Asutifi North fails to elect PM after four attempts

The Asutifi North District Assembly in the Ahafo Region has yet again failed to elect a Presiding Member (PM) to steer its meetings after several attempts.

This occurred at Kenyasi, capital of the district, when 39 persons – the District Chief Executive (DCE), assembly members and government appointees, went to the poll supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC) to elect the PM to steer general assembly meetings as the law demands.

The exercise been the fourth since residents in the district elected its assembly members in December 2019, which saw Daniel Tawiah recording 23 votes, whiles Nana Adu-Bonus Elisha O’Shea securing 15 votes, resulting in none being able to have the needed two-thirds of the total votes to named PM for the assembly.

“Two-thirds of 39 is 26, and per the outcome, none secured the needed votes,” the EC stated before the house.

Addressing the house, the District Coordinating Director (DCD), Samuel Badu Baiden, explained that the two candidates cannot vie for the position again, because for four consecutive times, the members are unable to pick one of them.

He said new assembly members interested in the position of PM are now entitled to do so per the law governance act.

“We will inform the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) of the happenings, and know the next step to take,” the District Coordinating Director stated.

According to some assembly members and government appointees The Chronicle spoke to after the exercise, it is unbelievable that the assembly has not been able to elect the PM up to date.

To them, per what has happened the assembly is losing in terms of getting developmental projects for the residents, which is a worrying situation.

The worried assembly members disclosed that partisan politics has set in the election of their leader, and it is making it extremely difficult due to the numbers the assembly has on board.

They explained that if care is not taken and things are not properly shaped, the Asutifi North District Assembly will not have PM for some time to come.

“We need to make broader consultations to avert the current situation, else we have failed our people,” they stated passionately.

They added that it was a worrying situation now, because no sub-committee is able to function due to the lack of a PM, which is pathetic.

According to them the assembly is not functioning as expected. “Virtually, things have been halted, and it is bad,” they bemoaned.

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