Asante-Akim South Assembly retains Presiding Member

Juaso (Ash), Nov. 1, GNA -- Mr Eric Aboagye was on Monday re-elected Presiding Member (PM) of the Asante-Akim South District Assembly after two rounds of voting at Juaso.

His only contestant, Mr Owusu Ansah, however, stepped down before the second round.

He polled 40 votes instead of the 41 needed to qualify him as a winner necessitating a second round.

But just as the second round was about to commence, Mr Owusu Ansah withdrew from the contest and urged the assembly to unanimously give Mr Aboagye the nod.

However, as the Standing Orders of the assembly demands, a second round of voting to confirm Mr Aboagye was conducted which saw him polling 53 votes.

Mr Aboagye, who was the incumbent expressed appreciation to the assembly and called for unity to work towards a common goal.

He commended Mr Ansah for demonstrating a high sense of maturity, which he said, did not only enhance the fledgling democracy of the country but also saved the assembly time and resource. Dr Lord Justice Gyamfi-Fenteng, the District Chief Executive, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the new assembly earlier, charged members to bring to bear the qualities they possessed for which the electorate voted for them on the activities of the assembly.

He said the assembly was a frontline institution through which the people could participate actively in the development of their communities and urged them to effectively represent their electoral areas.

The DCE further noted that since the decentralisation process aims at bringing government to the doorstep of the people it behoved the assembly members to frequently explain government policies in their localities.

Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, who inaugurated the assembly on behalf of the President, charged district assemblies to depart from the over-reliance on the District Assemblies' Common Fund as well as HIPC and GETFund. He exhorted district assemblies to focus on generating income locally and consider other sources of funds as complementary to their efforts.

=93This effort will become successful when it becomes increasingly evident that funds collected by the assembly are applied to the benefit of the communities=94, he added.