Due to internal wrangling within the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, the assembly was the only one in the country that failed to meet criteria for qualifying for the Urban Development Grant and thereby losing out on the Six Hundred and Ninety Thousand Ghana Cedis grant.
The internal wrangling within the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly also contributed to the seizure of the Municipal Chief Executive’s official car. Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed –Muniru made these revelations when he was addressing a crowd at Kalbeo, a suburb of Bolgatanga before the commissioning of a teachers’ quarters there.
The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly in August last year, was in the media for some wrong reasons when some members of the assembly accused the Municipal Chief Executive of misappropriating an amount of Six Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis generated from a task force assignment.
The MCE denied the allegations but a youth group later petitioned the president on the same allegations, prompting the Upper East Regional Minister set up a committee to investigate the matter.
The committee which was headed by David Adeenze Kanga later submitted its report to the Regional Minister who refused to make the content of the report public and instead, chose to forward it to the President. Till date, it is unclear what the outcome of the Adeenze Kanga – led committee’s report was.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Akwasi Oppong-Fosu who witnessed the commissioning of the teachers quarters at Kalbeo called for a severe sanctioning of members of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, should such an incident repeat itself.
A member of the Vetting and Election Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Namoo has explained a decision by regional party elders to restrain delegates from the Bongo constituency from taking part in last week’s Regional Executive Election held in Bolgatanga.
Delegates from the Bongo Constituency were barred by the Electoral commission from voting in the election. The EC, which supervised the election, had acquired a court injunction prohibiting delegates from Bongo from taking part in the electoral process.
According to the EC, the Constituency election in the Bongo Constituency held late last year was not supervised by the Commission which is mandated by law under the country’s constitution to conduct and supervise all public elections. The voting process ground to a halt for close to an hour last Saturday as result of that.
However in an in an interview with A1 News, a member of the Vetting and Election Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Namoo indicated that allowing the delegates from the Bongo Constituency to vote would not have made any difference in the turn out of the election results.
Meanwhile, a Representative of the National Executive Council who is also a member of the National Communication Team of the NPP, Richard Asante Yeboah urged sympathizers and well-wishers of the party to forge ahead in unity to capture power from the incumbent NDC government in 2016. He added that party members at the region and constituency levels had enormous responsibilities to work harder in that regard.
The Government of Ghana has been directed by The Human Rights Division of the High Court, Accra, to relocate the temporary offices of the Binduri District Assembly presently at Bazoa here in the Upper East region to Binduri by the end of July 2014.
Seven citizens of Binduri sued the Government of Ghana in the year 2012 over the location of the principal offices of the Binduri District Assembly. With Binduri gazetted as the legally recognized district, the residents felt shortchanged after the capital was moved to Bazoa and went to court over the matter.
The Human Rights Division of the High Court, Accra, presided over by Justice L.L. Mensah on Friday, 24th July, 2014 adopted as judgment, some terms of settlement filed by the parties to the case.
Among the terms, the Government of Ghana is to acquire a proposed site for the construction of principal and permanent offices of the district capital at Binduri. At a press conference held in Bolgatanga on Monday, lead plaintiff in the case, Philip Ayamba explained how the terms of settlement were adopted.
He also outlined the terms of settlement as signed by all parties to the case and adopted by The Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra, copies of which have been made available to A1 News.
Below is copy of the full press statement:
COURT ADOPTS TERMS OF SETTLEMENT FILED BY PARTIES TO BINDURI DISTRICT ASSEMBLY CASE
The Human Rights Division of the High Court, Accra, presided over by Justice L.L. Mensah has today (Friday, 24th January, 2014) adopted the terms of settlement filed by the parties to the case in which some seven citizens of Binduri sued the Government of Ghana over the location of the principal offices of the Binduri District Assembly.
By reason of the said adoption of the terms of settlement, the judgment of the trial High Court in the case instituted by Philip Ayamba & Ors vs. The Attorney General (Suit No.HRC 50/12) is as follows:
The Government of Ghana shall embark on a sensitisation programme for all stakeholders, especially at Bazua and Binguri regarding L. I. 2146.
The Government of Ghana shall acquire the proposed site for the construction of principal and permanent offices of the district capital at Binduri as clearly provided for in L. I. 2146.
The Government of Ghana shall ensure that all permanent structures constituting the Binduri District Assembly shall be constructed at Binduri within two (2) years from the date of execution of these terms of settlement.
The Government of Ghana shall relocate the temporary offices of the Binduri District Assembly presently at Bazua to Binduri six (6) months from the date of execution of these terms of settlement, which six (6) months for the avoidance of doubt ends on the last day of July, 2014.
The Government of Ghana shall erect signposts at the proposed site of the permanent offices of the Binduri District Assembly at Binduri with all the details of location as mentioned clearly by L.I. 2146 and the signposts shall read: “The Proposed Site of the Binduri District Assembly, Binduri,” which sign for the avoidance of doubt shall not be erected at Bazua or any other community for that matter.
The Government of Ghana shall ensure that it takes steps to commence the building of the permanent principal offices of the Binduri District Assembly at Binduri in compliance with L.I. 2146 and in accordance with the time frame set down in Clause Three (3) of the terms of settlement above.
Prior to the adoption of the terms of settlement by the High Court as its judgment, the parties held at least two meetings which were variously attended by the Attorney General, Hon. (Mrs.) Marrieta Brew Appiah-Opong, the Deputy Attorney General, Hon. (Dr.) Dominic Ayine, M.P, Deputy Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Hon. Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, M.P. The District Chief Executive for Binduri, Daniel Akologo, the Chief of Binduri, Naaba Akolbilla and the Kusasi Chief in Accra, Chief Hamidu Mohammed also participated in the said meetings.
All the parties expressed their commitment to peace and the rule of law.
Signed.
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PHILIP AYAMBA
1ST PLAINTIFF FOR & ON BEHALF OF ALL THE PLAINTIFFS
NPP Member of Parliament for the Nabdam Constituency, Boniface Gambila has described the election of first and second vice chairmen of the party as irrelevant.
According to Mr. Gambila, the first and second vice chairman positions of the party could be occupied by the people who emerge as first and second runners-up in the race for the Chairman position.
The former Upper East Regional Minister under J.A. Kuffour administration said this in an exclusive interview with A1 News during the party’s Upper East Regional Executives election held in Bolgatanga on Saturday.
The Susana Wesley Mission Auxiliary (SUMA), a women’s organization of the Methodist Church of Ghana has donated eleven pallets of second-hand clothing and boxes of biscuit to Afrikids Ghana, a child rights centered NGO for onward distribution to beneficiaries of four of the NGO’s projects.
The four projects include the Mama Laadi’s Foster Home, Creative Minds and Next Generation Children’s Home in Bolgatanga as well as Operation Smile in the Northern Region. President of the Susana Wesley Mission Auxilliary (SUMA), Esi Nyame said the donation to the four Afrikids Projects was based on SUMA’s mission of helping the less-privileged in society.
Receiving the items at the Mama Laadi’s Foster Home in Bolgatanga, the proprietress of the orphanage, Mama Laadi together with the children, expressed gratitude to SUMA.
One of the defeated candidates who vied for the position of NPP Upper East Regional Youth Organizer in the recent Regional Executives Election, Latif Solomon has urged all his colleagues who contested in the election but lost to rally behind the winners to enable the party win against the ruling NDC in 2016.
While calling on the delegates not to be aggrieved over their candidates’ loses, Mr. Solomon urged the newly elected executives of the party to do their best to restore unity among members of the party. He spoke in an exclusive interview with A1 News.
Latif Solomon was one of three candidates who contested for the position of Upper East Regional Youth Organizer of the NPP. He obtained 114 votes to place second behind the winner Bashiru Ibrahim who obtained 131 votes.
As a native of the Bongo Constituency, Mr. Solomon attributed his defeat to the court injunction that prevented delegates from the Bongo Constituency from voting in the election.
Chairman for the Upper East Chapter of the Journalists’ Association, Eric Amoh has called on Municipal and District Assemblies in the region to always be willing to offer needed information to the media for dissemination. Mr. Amoh said this in relation to the difficulties journalist in the Upper East Region often encounter in accessing information from some assemblies and departments.
He was speaking at the Annual Press Soiree organized by the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council to create a platform for media practitioners to interact with the regional minister.
Some media personnel who attended the event expressed unhappiness about the difficulties they face anytime they are looking for information from some assemblies in the region.
Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru cautioned the media not to allow their partisanship to cloud their journalistic performance and urged the members of the inky fraternity to go the extra mile to report on rural issues.
According to the minister, the settlement pattern in the region is rural, creating the need for journalists to strive and bring out events that happen in the rural communities for necessary actions taken.
Election for New Patriotic Party Upper East Regional Executives in Bolgatanga on Saturday was delayed for a long time by controversy as delegates from the Bongo constituency were prevented from voting because of a dispute that emanated after their constituency executive elections late year. The controversy led to a long hold up which pushed the election late into the evening.
The election which took place at the catholic social center in bolgatanga was going on smoothly until a question was raised regarding the eligibility of delegates from the bongo constituency to vote. This led to an argument and a long hold up in the voting process.
All attempts to get someone to speak on record about the incident proved futile but A1 News gathered that the Bongo delegates were being stopped from voting because some members of the party were contesting the election of the current bongo constituency executives in court. They say due procedures were not followed in that election and that it was not supervised by electoral commission.
Electoral Commission (EC) officials said the Bongo constituency delegates could not vote because of the said court case which is still on-going but the delegates insisted that they had to be allowed to vote.
Party elders then decided to hold a closed door meeting to decide the fate of the Bongo delegates. After more than an hour of waiting, it was decided that the bongo delegates could not vote. Counting of the votes then started, a few minutes to 7pm.
Adams Mahama was elected as the new Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP after polling 153 votes to beat his closest contender, Bukari Ayamga who polled 78 votes. The other two candidates were incumbent chairman, Gabriel Asana and Adullah Achuliwor who polled 19 and 17 votes respectively.
Chairman-elect, Adams Mahama said his victory was not for him alone but the party as a whole. He promised to work to unite the party for victory in 2016.
Mohammed Murtala Ibrahim and Osman Konkonaba were elected first and second vice chairman respectively.
The position of regional secretary went to incumbent, Cletus Ayambire, while Jerry Asamani won the regional organizer title from the incumbent, Yaw Mort.
Regional youth organizer and women’s organizer went to Bashiru Ibrahim and Florence Akuribilla respectively.
It is still unclear what next is going to be done with regard to the controversy surrounding the bongo constituency delegates.
Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Daniel Syme has charged media practitioners in the region to demand accountability for contracts awarded to contractors in the region.
According to the minister, considering the illiteracy rate in the region there is the need for the media to hold duty bearers accountable in their stewardship roles. Mr. Syme said this when he met the Media Network on Social Accountability in the region on Monday.
