The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has failed to elect a presiding member. This is after the nominees were unable to secure two-thirds of the votes cast. The attempt to elect a presiding member followed the inauguration of the new assembly.
It would be recalled that after about 6 tries, the previous assembly was unable to elect a presiding member.
To help save the situation, the Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga, has appealed to members of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly to prioritize development rather than partisanship while the assembly tries to elect a presiding member.
Speaking to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, Mr. Asanga called for a compromise.
“If you see the votes, it is according to party lines. Those aligned with the NPP all vote in a certain way. Those aligned with the NDC also vote for their candidates. So yesterday, they tried the two mandatory votes, and no winner was declared. From the look of things, people would not change their minds.”
“Well, it could continue, but I think that the leadership of both sides would have to meet and do some trade-offs. It is something I had even suggested in the previous one. Politics is about trade-offs. If you are not willing to trade off, then it is not politics. I am hoping that by the next time we are meeting to take a second vote, they would have done this so that we can move forward.”
The District Chief Executive for Talensi, Thomas Duanab Wuni Pearson, is concerned about the excessive politicization of district assembly issues. His concerns come after the Talensi District Assembly, along with many other assemblies in the Upper East Region, failed to elect presiding members.
The failure to elect presiding members has largely been attributed to partisanship within the ranks of assembly members.
When Mr. Wuni Pearson spoke to Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show, he said, “it was the overly partisan nature of our politics. I think also that there was no broad consultation among those who are leaders of both parties.”
“If you have a party secretary of the constituency secretaries of both houses winning elections as assembly members and are in the house, and then you have appointments that have largely moved into partisan considerations, it is normal that we may not be going to the elections with party colors, but clearly, we know.”
Meanwhile, the Builsa South District Assembly encountered a setback in its proceedings as it failed to designate a presiding member subsequent to the induction of new assembly members.
Both candidates, John Peter Apaabey and John Asuaga, fell short of obtaining the required two-thirds majority of the total votes cast. In the initial round of voting, former Presiding Member John Peter Apaabey secured 18 votes, while John Asuaga received 12 votes.
Despite extensive deliberations and a subsequent round of voting, the outcome remained unchanged, leaving the assembly in a state of gridlock.
Others like the Bawku Municipal Assembly, Tempane District Assembly, Pusiga District Assembly and Bolga East Municipal Assembly failed to election presiding members.
Source: A1Radioonline.com101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
