Bolgatanga East gets Presiding Member on third attempt

The Bolgatanga East District Assembly has elected Mr Festus Kwabena Akugre, the Assembly Member for Asonge-Kunkua Electoral Area as a Presiding Member for the second Assembly, after three attempts.

Mr Akugre who stood unopposed secured 22 out of the 23 valid votes cast which was four more than the two-thirds majority required to be elected a Presiding Member (PM).

The Bolgatanga East District Assembly was carved out of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly in 2018 and the second Assembly was constituted in 2020 with 26 Assembly Members including 16 elected and eight appointed, after the 2019 December District Assembly election.

After the inauguration in January, the Assembly on two occasions failed to elect a Presiding Member, a situation which prompted Mr Malik Afeghera, a patron of the New Patriotic Party to work together with Reverend Emmanuel Abole, the DCE for the area, and Dr Dominic Ayine, the MP, to enable the Assembly Members to reach consensus.

The new Presiding Member who secured the victory after one round of voting was then sworn into office by Mr Osman Abdul-Hakeem, Magistrate at the Bolgatanga High Court.

Mr Akugre expressed gratitude to the Assembly Members for the confidence reposed in him and pledged to be neutral in all dealings to maintain the prevailing peace and unity among members to promote accelerated development.

While thanking the NPP Patron, the DCE and the MP for the respective roles they played towards the successful election of the Presiding Member, he urged the Assembly Members to ensure that the development of the district was paramount on their agenda, with unity and collaboration being key ingredients towards achieving it.

The new PM pledged to work effectively with the Assembly Members to develop innovative measures to help the Assembly increase its revenue mobilization drive to propel development.

The District Chief Executive, who appealed to the Assembly Members to support the presiding member to succeed, urged them to employ dialogue and consensus in resolving their differences and disagreements, to ensure continuity in development.