Wa West Assembly calls EC to question over confirmation letter

Wechiau (UE), Aug 11, GNA - A letter the Electoral Commission (EC) sent to the Wa West District Assembly confirming Mr Daniel Dari as the District Chief Executive (DCE) sparked confusion at an emergency meeting of the assembly on Wednesday, with one prominent member almost walking out.

The letter from the Upper West Regional Office of the EC dated July 29 said the Deputy Chairman of the Commission in-charge of Finance and Administration directed that Mr Dari should be confirmed. The letter read by the Presiding Member, Alhaji Issahaku Hassan, said the nominee needed 66.65 per cent of the votes cast on July 13 to get confirmation and since two-thirds of the 23 members present were 15.3 and he had 15, he should be confirmed. Naa Sohamininye Danoa Gore, Paramount Chief of Dorimo Traditional Area and a Government Appointee, said on the two occasions that the assembly met the nominee could not obtain the required votes he needed for endorsement.

Naa Gore said the EC could not rely on any false mathematical calculations to confirm the nominee and attempted walking out in anger but Mr Ambrose Dery, the Regional Minister, appealed to him to stay back and participate in the meeting.

The chief has, since the creation of the district, argued that once the capital of the new district is sited at Wechiau, fair play demanded that a citizen from his traditional area be made the DCE. "This has been our understanding and therefore, we are against the injustice and marginalization of the Dorimo area of the district," he

In the first ballot Mr Dari obtained 13 out of the 23 votes while in the second ballot he had 15 votes.

Almost all the members present were angered by the unavailability of any official of the EC to explain issues contained in the letter to them.

Mr Dery, who is also Acting DCE for the district, said the EC did not expect the assembly to debate the new development so their presence was not necessary.

He advised the assembly members not to use this new development to make statements that were likely to poison the cordial relationships that exist in the assembly.

Mr Dery said about 300,000 Euros, which had been solicited from the French government, would be used to execute projects in the district and called for unity to enable the new district to begin smoothly. Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, the Member of Parliament for the area, said apart from finding the mathematical calculations leading to the confirmation ridiculous, he was also against the declaration of the result through a letter.

He said ethnic differences had never been a problem in the area and was optimistic that unity would continue to prevail in the new district. 11 Aug 05