Assembly members unhappy about failure of MP to attend meetings

Odumase Krobo, Oct. 28, GNA - Members of the Lower Manya District Assembly has expressed concern about the failure of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area to attend assembly meetings. They said over the past four years the MP, Mr Michael Nyaunu, had failed to attend all assembly meetings and also refused to respond to any invitation extended to him by the house.

The members said the behaviour of Mr Nyaunu towards issues concerning the assembly since he became MP was disturbing. They have therefore called on the Speaker of Parliament, the leadership of parliament and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to caution the MP and call him to order to recognize himself as a member of the assembly.

The assembly members raised the concerns at the last meeting of the assembly at Odumase on Thursday, which also witnessed the dissolution of the house as their term of office comes to an end on October 30. Mr Evans N. Nash, assembly member for Pakson, in a submission on the matter said the attitude of Mr Nyaunu was a clear indication that he did not take the assembly serious.

He argued that the Local Government Act, 462, makes the MP a member of the house and therefore if he failed to honour invitation to meetings of the house over the past four years it would be considered that he had ceased to be a member.

The District Chief Executive, MR Issac Agbo Tetteh, also expressed his unhappiness about the MP's attitude towards the assembly and said since he took office in 2009 the MP had turned down all invitations extended to him, either to attend assembly meetings or other programmes organized by the house.

He said what made the matter serious was that Mr Nyaunu received all the invitations letters.

The DCE appealed to Mr Nyaunu to change his behaviour towards the assembly since he was the one to carry their concerns to Parliament. All attempts to get Mr Nyaunu to explain his side of the story proved futile.