Tano North District Assembly fails to elect PM

The Tano North District Assembly failed to elect a Presiding Member (PM) on Tuesday at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Brong-Ahafo Region, after two rounds of voting could not produce a definite winner.

Neither of the two contestants, Messrs Sadik Mohammed Issah and Kenneth Adom Adjei obtained the required two/ thirds majority of the 36-member Assembly, which consists of 25 elected and 11 government appointees.

The first round of voting ended in favour of Mr. Issah with 20 votes and 16 for Mr. Adjei whiles in the second round, the former again won with additional two votes as the latter’s vote reduced by two to 14.

Mrs. Rose Adjei-Twumasi, the District Electoral Officer for the Electoral Commission, who supervised the process rescheduled the election to place within two weeks.

Earlier Mr. Alexander Graham, the Circuit Court Judge at Duayaw-Nkwanta swore in the Assembly Members into office to mark the official inauguration of the Assembly, after they had taken the three official national oaths of allegiance, office and secrecy.

Dr. Bernice Adiku Heloo, Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, who delivered the presidential inaugural address, said Government would continue to play a major role in developing the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) through the provision of logistics, staffing and office accommodation.

Dr. Heloo charged the Assemblies to generate the needed revenue, not only for recurrent expenditure, but also for funding development projects because “many MMDAs have the potential to generate revenue for these purposes, but this is not fully exploited”.

She mentioned property rate collection as an area that needed serious attention, saying that, with the appropriate data, it could serve as the basis for improved collection of rates.

“How many people in the MMDAs even know the number of houses they have in their Assemblies”, she asked, and urged them “to consider revenue generation as an important function and stop the over-reliance on the District Assembly Common Fund and other central government releases”.