Accra: Attempts by the Tano North Municipal Assembly in the Ahafo Region to elect a Presiding Member (PM) to steer the affairs of the Assembly.
This was after four unsuccessful attempts of voting in an election, conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Twice the 39-member assembly, comprising 25 elected and 12 government appointees met at Duayaw-Nkwanta, the Municipal capital to elect the PM, the two contestants were unable to secure the two-thirds of votes required for the position, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered.
That implies none of the contestants, Lewis Owusu-Ansah, the Assemblyman for Tromo Electoral Area and Justice Acheampong, the Assemblyman for Adrobaa Electoral Area would be able to contest in the ensuing elections of the assembly in accordance with the Local Government Act.
Dr Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, and Mr Ernest Kwarteng, the Tano North Municipal Chief Executive are ex-officio members of the Assembly.
In the first round of voting on the first da
y of the election, Mr Owusu-Ansah polled 21 votes while his contender had 17 votes. They maintained the same votes in the second round of voting, the GNA gathered.
The assembly rescheduled the elections, and when the members met after 10 days for the election, Mr Owusu-Ansah’s had 23 votes with his contender securing 12 votes in the first round of voting.
In the second round of voting, Mr Owusu-Ansah’s votes saw a slight decrease, polling 21 votes, with his challenger upping with 17 votes.
In an interview with the GNA, Mr Owusu-Ansah said it would be difficult for the assembly to elect the PM, if something was not done because the house was divided into political lines of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with the NDC having the majority of members.
He added the assembly was yet to set a new date for the elections.
Source: Ghana News Agency