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Kumasi: Old Tafo-Pankrono Municipal Assembly Members Failed To Elect Presiding Member After 4th Round of Second Attempt
Assembly members in Old Tafo-Pankrono Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region have failed to elect their Presiding Member after several attempt.
Article 244 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states that “The District Assembly shall have a Presiding Member who shall be elected by the assembly from among its members.”
Article 244 (2) of the Constitution further directs that “The Presiding Member shall be elected by at least two-thirds majority of all the members of the Assembly.”
Under the law, the presiding member, has a tenure of two years and is eligible for re-election, presides over the meetings of the Assembly among other functions prescribed by law.
The issue of presiding members failing to meet the constitutional requirement has become common over the years, leading to some district assemblies operating without presiding members.
The Old Tafo-Pankrono Municipal Assembly for instance has failed to elect a presiding member after four consecutive attempts.
Hon Ernest Owusu, the assembly man for Pankrono-Bediako electoral area wants to unseat the Incumbent presiding member Hon. Richard Appiah who is also the assembly man for Pankrono-Abed electoral area in the same community.
On the 18th of February, 2022 the duo failed to occupy the presiding member seat after Hon Ernest Owusu secured 12 votes and 11 votes in the first and second round of the election respectively whilst the incumbent obtained 12 votes in the first round and 13 votes in the second round of the total votes of members present.
The Constitution permits ten days for second attempt of the election however if the members still fail to elect their PM then the law requires the contestants or candidates to step aside for different contestants.
The municipal electoral commission on 25th February, 2022 made provision for another election after some eight days of the previous election held in the municipal assembly hall on Friday.
However nothing of change emerged as the Incumbent PM, Richard Appiah has grabbed 11 votes in the first round and 12 in the second round whereas his contender Hon. Ernest Owusu obtained 13 and 12 votes in the first and second rounds respectively.
The total members of the assembly are 25 including Nana Agyen Frimpong Ababio Okogyeadwa the chief of Tafo and the municipal chief executive MCE, Lord Inusah Lansah, comprising of 16 elected, 8 government appointees and 1 traditional representative but Tafohene was absent reducing the total number to 24.
Both the candidate needed at least two-thirds majority of all the members of the Assembly which suppose to be 18 votes in order to be declared as presiding member however the situation has compared them to step down for different contestants.
Heroesghnews predicts possibly, the Old Tafo-Pankrono Municipal Assembly would be operating without presiding members until next assembly and unit committee elections if the situation remain the same.
Similarly, the Agona West Municipal Assembly, which was inaugurated in January 2020, as of September 2020, had equally failed to elect a presiding member on three different occasions.
Speaking with the candidate after the election, both the candidate was happy with the outcome and the electoral process describing it as “peaceful”
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Richard Appiah incumbent
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Hon. Ernest Owusu
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For heroesghnews, Rexkin Ohene Boateng Hello Fm
