Assin-Nsuaem (C/R), July 14, GNA – Mr David Kwame Amoako Okyere, a 60-year-old agriculturist and a government appointee at the Assin South District Assembly, has been elected the new Presiding Member (PM), after a failed attempt in March.
Of the 35 Assembly Members present , 29 voted in favour of Mr Okyere whilst his contender, Mr Frank Owusu Boahen, the Assemblyman for Assin-Homaho Electoral Area had five votes.
One ballot was rejected while two members were absent during the peaceful election supervised by the Electoral Commission.
Determined to accelerate development in the area, Mr Okyere urged all Assembly-Members to eschew excessive political partisanship and forge ahead in unity for accelerated development.
He said Assembly-Members were the core of the local government structure and must unite and collaborate towards realizing the developmental mandate.
“Let’s drop our political attire for the country to move forward. If we want development for our district and constituents, we must shelve our political affiliation and fight for the basic things the people need.
“I am looking forward to seeing members come together and say that despite the Party in power, all we need is development,” Mr Okyere admonished.
He pledged to work closely with the members of the Assembly to improve on the Internally Generated Fund (IGF) base of the district as it was a major setback in its development.
He said he would also work to guarantee the welfare of the members by stopping persistent delay in releasing Assembly Members’ allowances and other monies due them.
Madam Felicia Ntrakwa, the District Chief Executive (DCE), commended the Assembly Members for convincingly endorsing the new PM, describing it as a testimony of their eagerness to seek the development of the area.
Reiterating the essence of unity, the DCE charged Assembly-Members to work in concert , without which it would be difficult to achieve their goal.
“We should put aside our parochial interest and focus on the development of the district”, he said.
Equally, she reminded the Assembly members to avoid over politicisation of issues and rather think of how best they could support good developmental initiatives and declared her unflinching support to the PM to facilitate the growth of the area.
GNA