Amenorwode to hand-pick DCE for new Afadjato district

By Korku Devitor
Even before the final approval is given for the creation new districts, information reaching this paper indicates that Volta Regional Minister, Joseph Amenorwode has already started scheming to impose his choice on the newly proposed Afadzato district as the District Chief Executive.
The candidate, Edith Akpoto, current Presiding Member of the Hohoe Municipal Assembly, from which the Afadzato district has been carved is also the regional coordinator of the School Feeding Programme.
In the run-up to the selection of replacement for the dismissed former MCE for Hohoe, Victor Kondobre, Amenorwode, Kondobre and Alfred Woyome had been scheming to impose this same Edith Akpoto on the municipality.
Their scheme however met with resistance from the constituency executives of Hohoe North, who argued that with no appointment coming to the Hohoe North constituency; it would be unfair to have the PM who hails from Kpeve in the Hohoe South constiturncy as MCE, after an indigene of Hohoe North had been sacked from the same position.
The group also argued that Akpoto had supervised the alleged rot that went on under Kondobre’s tenure as MCE, and she did nothing about it, hence the quest by Amenorwode to make her MCE smacks of attempts to cover-up Kondobre’s alleged mismanagement.
It was also alleged that, the regional minister, Akpoto and one Alfred Woyome had constituted themselves into a trinity that wanted to control the politics and resources of the region.
A GROUP calling itself 'Friends of President Atta Mills' (FPAM) based in the Hohoe North constituency, before the NDC primaries in Sunyani warned Woyome to stop interfering in matters concerning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the area.
They a accused him of allegedly peddling false information to downplay the alleged ‘gross financial malfeasance’ committed by ousted MCE of the area, Mr. Kondobrey.

The statement also said that the onetime Vice Consul of Austria to Ghana was allegedly building a house for President Mills at his (Woyome) wife's hometown, Gbi-Kpeme. It noted that because of this project, the district assembly is allegedly working on the road leading to the said house at the expense of other more important roads in the municipality.

They added that a number of NDC constituency and branch executives had been arrested and granted bail with the Constituency Chairman, Wonder Boasilenu being invited and interrogated by police allegedly on the orders of Alfred Woyome and Volta Regional Minister, Joseph Amenowode. (30 Jun 2011 Daily Guide)
Allegations are rife in the new district that Amenorwode’s attempt to impose the PM of Hohoe Municipal Assembly, Edith Akpoto on the new assembly as MCE is an attempt to perpetuate his selfish agenda which had started crumbling in Hohoe North on the new district.
The 1992 constitution reposes the power to select MMDCEs in the president, but the approval is to be given by the assemblies, but some MPs and ministers with strong overtly and covertly influence the selection processes to ensure that their cronies get selected by the president to those positions.