The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament is demanding a re-run of some of the Assembly elections held to confirm President Akufo-Addo’s nominees for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives )MMDCEs).
The demand was made on Tuesday by the Ranking Member on the Local Government Committee of Parliament, Nii Lante Vanderpuye.
According to Mr. Vanderpruye thuggery, physical violence and deliberate disenfranchisements during the vote in some of the Assemblies were totally unbecoming of the process.
“We are therefore calling on the President and Local Government Minister, to immediately, order a re-run of the confirmation exercise in all the assemblies that recorded any such disgraceful process; Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai, Assin South, Sekyere Kumawu, Cape Coast, and others where the processes were manipulated, to prevent known Assembly Members from exercising their constitutional mandate,” he told the media.
Mr. Vandepruye also cited Tarkwa Nsueam where the “unfortunate acts of assault, brutality, and forceful eviction, from the assembly hall that characterised the approval of the presidential nominee in Tarkwa last year in May.“
In the Assin South District, some 15 Assembly Members invoked curses on the newly confirmed DCE, Felicia Amissah Ntrakwah, the Police Service and the EC officials preventing them from voting so as to ensure that the nominee was not rejected the second time.
The 15 Assembly Members slaughtered a sheep, crashed some eggs and poured libation with bottles of schnapps to invoke the curses.
Also in Wa, there was confusion after 29 votes that the nominee, Alhaji Moomen had secured, had magically increased to 30 after a controversial second count making it possible to attain the required two-thirds votes.
Nii Lante Vanderpuye pointed out that local governance is the mother rock of statecraft and therefore it is unacceptable that such occurrences take place in MMDCEs elections.