By Robert Tachie Menson
Wamfie (B/R), March 1, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Kofi Agyemang, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Dormaa East, has appealed to chiefs in the area to support a proposed plan to assist brilliant but needy students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
He said there were brilliant students with talents in STEM in the area but were unable to further their education because of financial constraints.
Mr Agyemang made the appeal when he was speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of new Assembly Members and the inaugural meeting of the Assembly at Wamfie in the Bono Region.
He said as a measure to promote STEM education in the area, the Management of the Assembly, its education oversight committee and the District Education Directorate had decided to select four final year Junior High School (JHS) students from selected schools to be supported to benefit from STEM education.
Touching on some agricultural initiatives being rolled out by the government to boost the socio-economic lives of the populace, Mr. Agyemang said under the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), the Assembly had presented one million cashew and 20,000 coconut seedlings to farmers in the district to improve their livelihoods.
He thanked the immediate past assembly members for their sacrifices and contributions made to advance the district’s development aspirations and entreated the new ones to work extra hard to deepen and strengthen local governance.
Mr Eric Daning, the Magistrate of the Sunyani District Court led the 30 assembly members, including nine government appointees to swear the three national oaths of office, secrecy and allegiance.
In a related development, the Assembly could not elect a Presiding Member as neither of the two contestants, Mr Daniel Acquah, the incumbent and his challenger, Mr Slyvester Peprah obtained the required two-thirds majority vote.
Mr Acquah had 15 votes whilst Mr Peprah secured 14, with two rejected votes in the first round in an election conducted and supervised by officials from the District Office of the Electoral Commission.
The second round of voting again did not produce a winner and proceeding was thus postponed for the Assembly to reconvene for another round of voting after 10 days.
GNA