After eight attempts by the Shama District Assembly to elect a Presiding Member, Assembly Member for Bentsir Electoral Area, Emmanuel Mark Ackon has been given the nod for the office.

He secured 25 out of the 26 votes to emerge victorious.

The Shama District Assembly has been without a Presiding Member for the past seven months.

In the fiercely contested elections, Mr Ackon in the first round had 13 votes while the other aspirant, Assembly Member for Aboadze Emmanuel Amevor, had 12 Votes.

It took the timely intervention of some traditional authorities to convince Mr Amevor to step down for Emmanuel Ackon to sail through with 25 votes with one spoilt ballot after the second round of elections.

The first attempt by the Shama District Assembly to elect the Presiding Member was in November, 2019.

Subsequent attempts to compose the Assembly for another election could not happen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the easing of restrictions, the Assembly tried unsuccessfully to elect the PM as all the Presiding Member aspirants failed to get the needed majority. The eighth attempt on Wednesday has, however, been successful.

Elected Presiding Member Emmanuel Mark Ackon stressed that members posed their trust in him by endorsing his candidature as a result of his good relation with them and also by the fact that they believed in his good vision for the assembly.

District Chief Executive for Shama Joseph Amoah acknowledged the intervention by the traditional authorities towards the successful election of the Presiding Member and assured that he would work towards bringing all perceived factions together.

Acting Paramount Queen-mother of Shama Traditional Council Nana Akosua Gyamfiaba II believes the needed development will be achieved with the election of a Presiding Member.