Agyemfra advocates for the election of DCEs

Koforidua, May 14, GNA- Brigadier-General Francis Agyemfra (Rtd), a security expert, has added his voice to calls that Chief Executives of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies should be elected. According to him, such a move would strengthen democracy in the sense that, the people in the areas would have direct stake in the nomination of Chief Executives to ensure cooperation from the entire political divide.

Speaking in an interview with the GNA, after presenting a paper at a workshop in Accra, Brigadier Agyemfra said such a system would enhance good governance than the current appointments, which looks more of imposition than consensus.

He said although assembly members voted to confirm the nomination of a Chief Executive, "the people still have to confirm the nominee of the president's choice".

Citing the recent district assembly elections in Benin, where he was an observer, he said the president's nominee for Cotonou lost in the election and described it as a boost to the democratic dispensation of that country.

To buttress his p oint he further cited the Volta Region well known as the "World Bank of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)" and said "if the people are allowed to vote for their own Chief Executive it may happen that their choice would come from an opposition party, which to me gives a more acceptable choice for the people than to nominate on party lines".

Brigadier Agyemfra explained that there were instances where some of the president's nominees for the assemblies failed to be confirmed by assembly members on several occasions, which gave credence to the fact that it would be better if they were elected by the people than to be restricted to confirm a nominee. He said Ghana had gone a long way in the democratic dispensation, but much needed to be done to bring the people closer to the doorstep of governance and one such move was the election of chief executives.