Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has revealed that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Executives assemblies in the country are the major hubs of malfeasance in the country.
“Every year, the malfeasance according to the Auditor General report at the various Municipal, Metropolitan and the District Assemblies is high than every unit known and it is so because the MMDCEs feel they are untouchable because they were appointed by the President”, he stated.
According to a senior government official, this forms one of the basics of why it was necessary for all to support the Akufo-Addo led administration to politicize the local assembly elections
“They are not being accountable to the people because they can be only removed from office by two-thirds of the Assembly members which is very difficult”, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah spoke in an interview MyNewsGh.com monitored on a local radio station regarding the botched referendum.
December 17 Referendum aborted
President Akufo-Addo a fortnight ago, announced the withdrawal of the December 17 Referendum.
This is to allow time for further consultations with key stakeholders and the public in general, Nana Akufo-Addo announced in a special broadcast to the nation, Sunday.
“It is with deep regrets that I have given instructions to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development who will spear this process on behalf of government with commendable vigour and dynamism to abort the process and seek the withdrawal of the Bills for the amendment of the constitution both in respect of Article 243(1) and Article 55(3),” the President stated.
The referendum was seeking to amend the law to enable Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and unit committee members to be elected along political party lines.
However, the question of whether to allow political party participation at the local government level has dominated discussions with the leading opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaigning for a ‘No Vote’.
