Longest-serving PM endorsed as DCE
After failing in his first attempt to get the endorsement of the assembly members, President Akufo-Addo’s appointee for District Chief Executive (DCE) for Bosomtwe, Mr Joseph Kwasi Asumin, last Friday got a 94 per cent endorsement after 47 out of the 50 assembly members voted while three others voted against him.
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Friday’s results were an improvement on the previous week’s voting in which 25 of the members voted yes while the remaining 25 voted no, meaning he could not get the expected two-thirds to qualify for the confirmation.
To avoid a repetition of what happened last week, some New Patriotic Party (NPP) gurus such as Mr Fredrick F. Anto, First National Vice Chairman of the NPP; Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, former Minister of Local Government, Mr Robert Yaw Amankwah, former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, among others, were present to impress on the members to give the appointee the nod.
The endorsement was supervised by the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Lawrence Sarpong, and Mrs Ernestina Owusu-Banahene, the Bosomtwe District Electoral Officer, and witnessed by the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang, and other dignitaries.
Background
The new DCE for Bosomtwe, who is a lawyer by profession, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ghana where he studied Sociology with Political Science in 1981.
Until his appointment and endorsement, Mr Asumin was the Asokwa District Manager of the Small Tax office of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Political record
Mr Asumin was elected as the Assembly Member for the Worakose Electoral Area in 1998 and has since been elected five terms as the assembly member.
In 2001, he was elected as the Presiding Member for the then Bosomtwe Atwima Kwanwoma District until he resigned in 2005 to pursue a professional course at the Ghana School of Law in Accra.
Upon completion in 2007, Mr Asumin was re-elected as the PM for the Bosomtwe District Assembly, a post he held until his endorsement as the DCE, making him the longest-serving PM in Ghana.
Record
The Bosomtwe District can boast of producing the current Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, who is also the Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, and a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Pre-Tertiary Education, Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum.
Addressing the people after the endorsement, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang commended the assembly members for the massive support given to Mr Asumin and called for unity among all members of the assembly to bring development to the area and the people.
She urged the assembly members to support the new DCE and assist him to implement all the new policies of the Nana Akufo-led government.
New PM
The Bosomtwe District Coordinating Director, Mr Kingsley Kofi Senkyire, who is currently acting as the PM, announced that a new date would be fixed for the selection of a new PM.
He assured the new DCE of the support of all personnel of the assembly so that he would be able to achieve his set goals.
Mr Asumin, in his acceptance speech, thanked the members for the massive support and pledged to work hard to bring the much needed development to the people.
He also pledged to be fair to all assembly members and called for unity among all members of the assembly so they could all develop the district together.