Adenta Assembly fails to confirm MCE

The Adenta Municipal Assembly on Thursday postponed its sitting to confirm the President’s Municipal Chief Executive nominee because of divisions between assembly members and the ex-Municipal Chief Executive.

Mrs Nubly Kakra Vanlare, the former Municipal Chief Executive, who was re-nominated to be confirmed by the Assembly and Mr Gabriel Dery, Municipal Coordinating Director, were absent from the meeting. The five President’s nominees on the assembly were also not present.

Besides, electoral officials invited by assembly members to supervise the confirmation of the President’s nominee also boycotted the process.

The boycott by the electoral officials became apparent because of certain orders from the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to the Adenta Municipal Assembly to postpone the meeting to a different date which they refused.

Dr Desmond Aryee-Boi, the Presiding Member of the Adenta Municipal Assembly, said the Assembly members were summoned to the meeting based on invitation from the Adenta Municipal Assembly on August 13, 2013 relating to the nomination of Mrs Nubly Kakra Vanlare and steps to be taken towards her confirmation.

He explained that when the assembly received the instruction from the RCC to postpone the meeting, he wrote back to the RCC telling them that the time for the directive was too short since invitation had already been sent to assembly members.

He stated that by the Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462) the assembly was clothed with powers to make bye-laws and take decisions on its own.

Dr Aryee-boi said that before a nominee was confirmed he would have to get 67 per cent of the assembly members’ votes.

He noted that consensus building was the only way to move the assembly forward, adding that the various functionaries within the assembly would have to change their attitude to work to ensure the development of the area.

Mr Eric Tony Blair, an assembly member, stated that members would resist any attempt by authorities in government to impose somebody on the assembly.

By Act 462, he pointed out, the assembly is independent in taking its decisions as well as implementing its own bye-laws.

In a related development, the assembly members by a unanimous decision passed a resolution to declare that it could no longer work with Mr Gabriel Dery, Municipal Coordinating Director.

The assembly said for three consecutive occasions Mr Dery had failed to attend the assembly meeting and carryout his job as secretary to the assembly.