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Assembly members of the Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra Region have overwhelmingly confirmed Haruna Mohammed Awal as the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE).
All the 18 assembly members voted ‘Yes’ to approve his nomination as the MCE for Ayawaso North at the election held at the Church of Pentecost Maamobi Central Assembly in Accra last Wednesday.
Mr Awal became the first nominee of the President in the Greater Accra Region to be confirmed as MCE.
However, the President’s nominees for Ayawaso West and Ayawaso Central Municipal assemblies were rejected by their respective Assembly members during the confirmation, also held separately last Wednesday.
The two nominees; Dr Michael Mensah for the Ayawaso West and Randolf Collingwood-Williams for Ayawaso Central failed to secure the two-thirds majority required to become the MCEs for their respective assemblies.
For Ayawaso West, Dr Mensah out of 19 eligible voters made up of six government nominees and 13 assembly members, polled nine votes representing 47 per cent of the vote; while 10 representing 53 per cent voted No in the election supervised by Lydia Agyiri, the Ayawaso West Municipal Electoral Officer.
The Assembly sitting was adjourned by the Presiding Member (PM) of the Ayawaso West Municipality, Benjamin Nortey Oklah, although no specific date was communicated to the members to reconvene.
For Ayawaso Central, the President’s nominee, Randolf Collingwood-Williams, secured only six votes representing 35 per cent at the assembly sitting presided over by its PM, Hudu Ismail. In this case 11 voted “No” for his confirmation in the elections supervised by the Municipal Electoral Officer of Ayawaso Central, Lydia Anom; while one of the assembly members was absent.
Their rejection means the President would have to renominate them or nominate a new candidate to be confirmed as the MCE as they could not make at least 50 per cent of the votes to make it eligible for them to automatically seek reconfirmation.
The Electoral Commission (EC) under the supervision of the Municipal Electoral Officer, Apostle Tizor A. Watson, conducted the election for the confirmation of Mr Awal as the MCE for Ayawaso North which was witnessed by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso North, Yussif Jajah Issaka.
Ms Ocloo, in her address, expressed gratitude to the Assembly Members for the unity exhibited in the election process; ensuring that the nominee was duly confirmed without any hurdle.
She commended the MP for his effort and living up to expectation, saying, “he [MP] told me that as for this place, he's giving us 100 per cent. Indeed, he gave us 100 per cent.
Though, we have NDC and NPP assembly members, they all came together and confirmed the nominee”.
The minister urged other Districts and Municipal Assemblies to emulate the example of Ayawaso North and ensure the smooth sailing for the President’s nominees during the confirmation.
The new MCE for Ayawaso North, Mr Awal, expressed gratitude to President Mahama for the confidence reposed in him as his designated leader in the municipality.
He thanked the assembly members for the overwhelming endorsement and pledged to work with them as a unit to address the challenges of the municipality and bring the needed development to the area.
He assured the people of his commitment to a proactive, responsive and productive leadership to transform the municipality during his tenure; adding that he was ready to work with everyone regardless of their background.
President John Dramani Mahama last month nominated 29 persons as chief executives of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.
Key among the nominees were the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2024 parliamentary candidates for Tema Central, Ebi Bright, and Weija-Gbawe, Felix Odartey Lamptey, as Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Tema and Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Weija-Gbawe, respectively.
The appointment is the full complement of the positions of MMDCEs in the Greater Accra Region, which has 29 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
