By James Esuon
Agona Swedru (C/R), April 23, GNA – Mr Eric Gyamfi Odoom, the President’s nominee for the position of Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Agona West Municipal Assembly, has been confirmed after two rounds of voting.
He polled 33 out of the 42 valid votes cast, with nine against him, during the second round.
In the earlier round, the nominee failed to secure the nod when he polled 23 votes with 19 voting against him and one rejected ballot.
The election was supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), led by Mr Annobil Forson, the Agona West Municipal Director of EC.
Mr Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, the Central Regional Minister, earlier called for concerted efforts to maximise revenue collection instead of relying solely on the common fund.
He admonished revenue collectors of the various Assemblies to desist from the habit of embezzling funds, warning that anyone caught would not be spared.
The Minister charged the Assembly to work tirelessly to improve its revenue targets, to help them undertake developmental projects.
Mr Eduamoah called on the traditional authorities to endeavour to release land to the Assembly for proper documentation to help undertake projects, to help ease the difficulties of securing land for government flagship projects.
He also cautioned the Assemblies to stop using internally generated funds (IGF) to organise workshops and other unwarranted issues which had become a major financial problem to these institutions.
The Minister urged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to preserve and protect lands demarcated for cemeteries to avoid encroachments, saying that many of these reserved areas had been taken over by estate developers without reason.
He also appealed to party supporters to rally behind the MCE to enable him to pursue the reset agenda of President Mahama, so that the party could retained power in the next the elections.
Mr Odoom thanked the Assembly Members for his confirmation as MCE and pledged to work with all stakeholders to ensure rapid development of Agonaman.
He expressed gratitude to Mrs Ernestina Ofori Dangbey, the Member of Parliament for Agona West, for her unflinching support during and after his confirmation.
The MCE pledged to work with all, irrespective of party affiliation, to champion infrastructural transformation to ensure speedy development of the Agona West Municipality.
Earlier, Mr Ebenezer Bimpong, the Assemblyman for Agona Kwaman was elected unopposed as the new Presiding Member (PM) of the Assembly after pulling 42 YES and one NO votes.
The Assembly had for more than two years, not been able to elect a PM, due to internal issues.
The MCE and PM were sworn into office by Justice Mr Kwame Polley, the Agona Swedru High Court Judge.
Present were Mr Hakeem Addea, the Central Regional representative of the Council of State, Okofo Katakyi Nyakoh Eku X, Omanhene of Agona Nyakrom Traditional Area and Nana Kweku Esieni V, the Regent of Agona Swedru.
GNA
AT/CAA