The Lower Manya Krobo District, the only area in the country which has been without assembly members for the past 12 years, now has its assembly inaugurated.
The long delay in electing some and nominating other assembly members was due to a dispute between the Lower Manya Krobo District and the neighbouring Shai Osudoku District over some electoral areas at Akuse, which was resolved by the Supreme Court in favour of the former.
Demonstration
However, Wednesday’s event was nearly marred due to a protest by the traditional authorities, who were sidelined during the nomination of government appointees.
As a result, some youth from the area besieged the entrance of the assembly with placards, ostensibly in support of the chiefs but the police were able to handle the situation. The issue was later resolved after a closed-door marathon meeting held under the direction of the Regional Minister, Mr Julius Debrah.
Under the agreement, two appointees representing the chiefs, who the chiefs claimed were not nominated by them, had to be excluded from the group to enable the traditional rulers to nominate their own representatives.
In all, there are 45 assembly members, 14 of whom are government appointees.
Addressing the assembly members, Mr Debrah expressed gratitude for the able manner in which the interim management committee had administered the district. He said he was hopeful that the assembly members would do their best to promote the development of the communities.
Earlier, the chairperson of the IMC, Madam Juliana Teyegaga, had outlined the numerous challenges facing the communities, some of which had been addressed by the IMC, and expressed the hope that the new assembly members would do their best to resolve the rest.
No Presiding Member
Meanwhile two rounds of voting to elect a Presiding Member yielded no results and had to be rescheduled.
In the first voting, which involved seven candidates, nobody had the required two-thirds votes so a second ballot was cast for the two who had the highest numbers of votes.
They are: Mr Ivans Theophilus Tetteh Tamatey, who secured 26 votes, and Mr Nash Evans, 17.
