This year polls across the country to elect Presiding Members for the various Assemblies were generally smooth without the rancour that traditionally characterised such elections.

With only a few assemblies in the country having their elections still pending, the President of the National Association of Local Government Authorities (NALAG), Felix Mensah Nii Annang-La, has said that congratulations were in order.

“As an Association, we have cause to be proud that democracy at the local level is really maturing; this year’s elections have been absolutely peaceful and devoid of rancour. This is a testament to the fact that Local governance, of which we are custodians, is indeed maturing,” he said in Tema.

The NALAG President, who is also the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Tema, thanked all Assembly Members and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives for the show of character that ensured a peaceful electioneering process.

The Tema Mayor also attributed the peaceful and non-acrimonious turnout to confidence that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has injected into local governance.

“His Excellency the President gave us the impetus when he reiterated the campaign promise to make Local Governance more competitive with the institution of the election of DCEs.

“I believe it is that impetus that has inspired so much maturity in all of us,” the Mayor said.

Nii Annang-La presided over peaceful process at his own Assembly, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, where, Mr Patrick Laweh Atitiati, Assembly Member for the Railways Electoral Area, was elected PM, by polling 34 out of 47 votes cast.

His opponent, Mr Joseph Korto, Assembly Member for Low-Cost Electoral Area, managed 13 votes.

A third contestant, Mr Kwesi Poku Bosompem, Assembly Member for Halcrow Electoral Area, dropped out of the race on voting day.

The Tema Mayor, in his capacity as the President of NALAG, congratulated Mr Laweh Atitiati for his ascension onto the responsibilities of Presiding Member, urging him to use his new role to help spur President Akufo-Addo’s agenda to transform Ghana.

In spite of his election, however, Mr Atitiati was not officially sworn-in as PM of the TMA, as the Judge who was supposed to do the swearing-in was not available at the time of his election.

The Tema Mayor called on all PMs elected nationwide to position themselves as agents of development at the various Assemblies to enable President Akufo-Addo to channel development to the ordinary Ghanaian.

“We have all seen that this President is a transformational leader who does not have the word “impossible” in his set of lexicon.

Ghana is picking itself up to run again because of President Akufo-Addo and all Assembly Members must position themselves to be a part of the progress.

“I call on all NALAG members in Assemblies, where the elections are complete, to close our ranks, now that the elections are over, so that we can deliver on our mandate as Local Government Authorities to the benefit of our people.”

He urged the remaining few Assemblies yet to elect their PMs to emulate the peaceful processes in the rest of the country so far.