By Laudia Sawer
Tema, May 17, GNA-Assembly members of the Tema West Municipal Assembly (TWMA) have unanimously confirmed Ms Felicia Edem Attipoe, Ghana’s First Female Aircraft Marshaller, as the Municipal Chief Executive Officer of the Assembly.
Ms Attipoe, a former women’s organiser for the Tema West New Patriotic Party constituency, was nominated to the position by President Akufo-Addo on April 24, 2024, to replace Madam Anna Adukwei Addo, who had been reassigned.
She received 17 yes votes and was therefore declared the MCE-elect by Mr John Nunoo, the Tema West Municipal Electoral Officer.
In her acceptance speech, she thanked all the assembly members and the President for the confirmation and nomination, respectively, giving the assurance that she would work to turn the assembly into a model one.
She promised to tackle security as a priority, saying some rounds she had made in all the electoral areas revealed that security was a common challenge that needed attention.
Meanwhile, before the confirmation, the assembly members also elected Mr Gilbert Kenneth Mag-Mawuli, an assembly member for the Sakumono electoral area, as the Presiding Member of the TWMA.
The elected PM who contested for the position two consecutive times on February 10, 2024, and once on February 26, 2024, was the only one nominated to contest.
The EC officer, however, drew the attention of the house to the fact that it may contravene point six of the guidelines for the election of a presiding member of a district assembly, which states that “Where in the election of a presiding member there are more than two candidates and neither candidate obtains the votes of at least two-thirds of all Members of the Assembly, the Electoral Commission shall, on the same day, hold another election, and candidates of the election shall be the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes at the previous election.”
He added that point seven of the guidelines also indicated that “where neither of the two candidates obtains the votes of two-thirds of all Members of the Assembly on two consecutive run-offs, held within 10 days after the first run-off, the two candidates shall step aside for fresh nominations.”
However, the assembly members insisted on having him as the only candidate, and Mr Daniel Titus Glover, the Greater Accra Regional Minister Designate, also intervened and conferred with the members, after which he asked the EC to go ahead and accept the nomination.
The election was finally conducted after Mrs Gladys Pinkah, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, made some calls and gave permission.
He polled 15 ‘yes’ and two ‘no’ to be declared the presiding member and was duly sworn into office by Ms Mabel N.L. Ahele, the Baatsonaa District Court judge.
GNA