Politics of Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Source: GNA

Politics Assembly Tension Tension mounts in the Offinso Municipal Assembly

Offinso (Ash), May 31, GNA - There is growing anger and apprehension among members of the Offinso Municipal Assembly over the postponement of the Presiding Member (PM) election and confirmation of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE). The poll, which should have come off on Monday, May 30, has been pushed back to June 1. It is the fifth time in about two and a half months that the assembly had rescheduled the PM election after four earlier attempts ended in deadlock. The assembly has been without either a PM or MCE, a situation the members argued was adversely affecting the development of the municipality and creating a sanitation nightmare for the people. The visibly irritated members who gathered at the premises of the municipal assembly insisted that they were not being treated fairly by the authorities and threatened to vote down the President's appointee for the MCE in retaliation. Mr Adam Baba, the Municipal Coordinating Director, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the rescheduling of the event was not for any political reasons but purely on financial grounds. The Assembly has not been able to mobilize enough resources for the payment of allowances of the 43 members and heads of departments. He said the failure to elect a PM election during the previous attempts had led to some constraints on the assembly's finances. The Assembly has up to June 7 to confirm the MCE. 31 May 11