Aggrieved assemblymen threaten to sue presiding member

A group calling itself “Aggrieved Assembly Members” of the Abura Asebu Kwamakese District Assembly of the Central Region, have threatened to take legal action against the Presiding Member for violating the Local Government Act.

According to them, Nana Fua XI, the Presiding Member (PM), had failed to convene an emergency meeting over a vote of no confidence in Mr William Atta Mends, the District Chief Executive.

A press statement signed and read by Mr Thomas Amoako, Assembly Member of the Korado Electoral Area, and leader of the group said the action would be taken if Nana Fua refused to call the meeting.

It said in May this year, a resolution for a vote of confidence in the DCE was passed by one third of the 43-member assembly as the first requirement prior to a ballot on a vote of no confidence, as enshrined in section 20, sub section 4a of the Local Government Act of 1992.

This could also be found in Order 17, sub order two (2) and three (3) of the Model Standing Orders for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAS).

The statement said having complied with the provision, the expectation of the house was that the PM would, as mandated by law, convene an emergency meeting for the resolution to be discussed prior to the conduction of a secret ballot by the Electoral Commission.

However, the PM had been adamant with the excuse that the assembly did not have enough funds to pay sitting allowance and refreshment despite their willingness to forgo their allowances due to the importance of the meeting.

The aggrieved members believed that the reluctance of the PM to convene the meeting was a calculated effort to delay the decision until the dissolution of the assembly, thereby, denying them their rights for justice, the statement said.

“As custodians of the meager resources of the district, we will not sit down unconcerned for the good people of Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District to be taken for granted by a few unpatriotic ones.

“And by this press conference, we are giving the presiding member an ultimatum to call a meeting as a matter of urgency or resign his post, failure of which may result in the law court for violation of the Local Government Act”.

Efforts by the Ghana News Agency to reach the PM via phone for a reaction to the issues raised were unsuccessful.

However, the DCE, Mr William Atta-Mends, in an interview with GNA, recalled that an assembly member raised the issue of vote of confidence during an assembly meeting about two months ago.

He said the assembly member was asked to get 15 members, representing one third of the assembly members, to sign the resolution but had not heard about the issue again until the press conference.

Meanwhile, out of the 15 assembly members who signed the resolution, only six of them were present at the press conference.