THE CHIEFS, elders and assembly members attending the Adentan Municipal Assembly general meeting on Thursday were surprised that the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE).
Nubly Kakra VanLare was absent from the meeting that had been called to determine the future of the assembly.
Mrs Vanlare, who has been renominated as MCE for the assembly was to be voted by the assembly members to confirm her nomination.
The meeting which was convened at the instance of the Presiding Member (PM) of the assembly, Dr. Desmond Aryee-Boi was to perform the core business of electing a Presiding Member and to confirm the President�s nominee for the position of MCE.
Dr Aryee-Boi said the assembly members were summoned to the meeting based on invitation from the Adentan Municipal Assembly on August 13, 2013 relating to the nomination of Mrs Vanlare and steps to be taken towards her confirmation.
The Municipal Assembly had to postpone the meeting to confirm the President�s nominee because the assembly members and the MCE were divided.
Mrs Vanlare, the MCE, who was renominated to be confirmed by the assembly and Gabriel Dari, Municipal Coordinating
Director, were absent from the meeting.
The five nominees of the President for the assembly were also not present.
The embattled MCE appeared not to be in the good books of the assembly members and fearing that she might not be re-elected, she decided to stay away.
The meeting was intended to start at 9:30am but delayed for close to three hours and assembly members took turns to tell guests to exercise patience as they were waiting for the parties concerned.
Three other important officials missing out in the meeting were the Municipal Coordinating Director, Gabriel H. Dari, Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Ashie Moore and the Municipal
Electoral officer who according to information gathered was cautioned by his superior officers to keep off the area.
The Presiding Member of the assembly did not take kindly to this action of the concerned officials, saying it was a calculated attempt to frustrate the efforts of the assembly in performing its mandated functions.
Dr. Aryee-Boi said the Regional Coordinating Director, Ernest K. Nyagbe in a letter dated August 20, 2013 with reference number HS.8/14/01/43, had asked him to postpone the intended meeting but he replied in another letter dated August 21,2013, that it was impossible to postpone such a crucial meeting.
He stated that by the Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462) the assembly was clothed with powers to make byelaws and take decisions on its own.
Dr Aryee-boi stated that before a nominee was confirmed he would have to get 67 per cent of the assembly members� votes.
He drew attention in his third reason for not cancelling the meeting, saying, �I am afraid the current trend of calling of meetings and calling off meetings is quite disturbing, destabilizing the purpose of the structures of the assembly and objectives of the local government system and thereby undermining the effective implementation of the decentralization process at the assembly�.
When business resumed, the assembly passed a resolution that they were unable to work with the Municipal Coordinating Director, Gabriel H. Dari, and that, he had on three occasions absented himself from their meetings without prior notice to the assembly.
Eric Tony Blair and Odai Boye, assembly members for New Legon and Adjiriganor electoral areas expressed worry over the interferences by the regional executives of the party in the work of the assembly.
They stated that if the MCE is presented a thousand times they will reject her, adding that her interpersonal relations and general work output was killing the assembly at a rather fast rate.
The Assembly Member for Nmai Djorn Electoral Area, Gladys Tetteh, in moving for an adjournment of the meeting, expressed worry over the fear and tension created at the assembly leading to a state of a culture of silence hanging over the staff.
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