THE ASANTE Central Municipal Assembly, for the second time, has rejected President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s nominee, George Kyei Baffour, for the chief executive position of the assembly.
An election to confirm the nominee yesterday saw the local governance expert defeated as the assembly members voted 19 in favour and 17 against the reappointment of Mr. Baffour, who was once the Presiding Member (PM) of the assembly.
He has ten days to go and appeal to the assembly members for endorsement after securing 52.7 percent of the votes. He requires 24 votes out of the 36 members to get the nod.
The one-time President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), was re-nominated last month for the MCE position, but failed to get the nod after 18 assembly members had voted against him. He managed to poll 17 votes.
This has left the municipal assembly as the only place in the Ashanti Region without a head to spearhead developments.
Prior to his rejection, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah and some Members of Parliament (MPs) had appealed to the assembly members to endorse the president’s nominee in order for the municipality to join its counterparts, but it appears the plea fell on deaf ears.
Mr. Osei-Mensah expressed surprise about the outcome of the election. He was hopeful that there would be a change of mind by the assembly members in favour of Mr. Baffour.
Some residents on May 29, 2017, appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to re-nominate Mr George Kyei Baffour for the position of MCE.
Addressing a news conference at the district capital, Konongo, spokesperson for the concerned citizens, Theophilus Effah-Abedi, appealed to the president not to close his eyes on the municipality because of “the misconduct of the youth” on May 12, 2017.
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