The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the weekend obtained 19 electoral area seats while the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) got 11 out of the 31 assembly seats in the just-ended Assembly elections in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The elections, which were quite partisan, were contested representatives of the NPP and NDC.
Although the election was poorly patronized due to apathy by the electorate and poor publicity by the Electoral Commission (EC), the electorate duly elected the new assembly members and unit committee members across the 131 polling stations for another four years.
The elections become necessary because in 2010 whilst the entire Ghana elected Assembly members and Unit Committee members, the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly was dissolved.
There was no election due to the formation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC), which managed the affairs of the municipality until 2014.
Prior to this election, members of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly called for the suspension of filing of nominations for the elections to replace the former assembly members, whose constitutionally mandated four-year term officially ended in May, 2018.
In 2010, a Parliamentary Sub-Legislation Committee, in line with the Local Government Instrument 2010, LI 1983 (Creation of New District Electoral Areas and Designation of Units), aligned seven electoral areas at Akuse, originally part of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Region to the Dangme West District (now Shai-Osudoku District) in the Greater Accra Region.
The areas were Zongo New Town, Akutue, Osukutu, Bungalow, Amedeka, Salon and Natriku.
The alignment caused a boundary dispute that led to the suspension of the assembly elections in the entire Lower Manya Krobo Municipality.
Owning to the development, efforts by the EC in 2010 to hold district level elections were thwarted by the people of Krobo, which led to the closure of the EC’s Office in the Lower Manya Krobo District.
In June 2012, the Supreme Court declared LI 1983 unconstitutional and retained the electoral areas in Lower Manya in the Eastern Region.
In October 2013, the Manya Krobo Traditional Council issued a seven-day ultimatum to the EC to announce a date for the assembly elections or else it would declare “self-government” in the area.
But the then Local Government Minister and Rural Development, Akwasi Opong-Fosu, asked the chiefs and people to exercise restraint and allow state institutions to address their concerns.
Due to the development, Lower Manya Krobo would always be behind the entire country for three years when it comes to District and Unit Committee Elections.
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