Wa, May 7, GNA - Thirteen members of the Wa East District Assembly have rejected the confirmation of Mr. Aminu Salifu as the District Chief Executive for the area. The group, in a petition to President John Atta Mills, said they did not vote for the Mr Salifu and wondered how he polled 19 votes in his favour with six against if 13 members of the assembly voted against him.

The assembly members therefore appealed to President Mills to withdraw Mr. Salifu as the District Chief Executive for the area because the conduct of the election was fraudulent. Mr. Suleman Razak, the leader of the group who read the petition at a news conference in Wa on Tuesday, accused the Upper West Regional Director of Electoral Commission, Mr Yahaya Mahama, for dishonestly declaring the results in favour of Mr. Salifu. On April 28, Mr. Salifu polled 19 votes in his favour with six against, representing 76 per cent of the 25-member house who cast their votes at a special meeting at Funsi to confirm him. Mr. Razak said the assembly members would either pass a vote "vote of no confidence" in Mr. Salifu or would refuse to attend assembly meetings if the NDC tried to impose him on the people. He said members of the house were denied the opportunity to observe the counting of the ballots. Mr Razak alleged that Mr. Mahama counted the ballot papers, turning them upside down with his back facing members of the assembly. He said members of the assembly were not at ease to exercise their franchise because the premises of the assembly hall were parked with a threatening mob brought from outside the district who hooted and heaped insults on the assembly members before voting started.

Mr. Razak said the group did not react immediately or comment on the election because they feared for their lives and therefore have to allow peace and tranquillity to prevail on that day, adding: "We need to live to react".

Mr. Razak cautioned that for sake of peace and development in the district, President Mills should endeavour to withdraw Mr. Salifu by nullifying his confirmation as District Chief Executive of the Wa East District. Mr. Caesar Kale, Upper West Deputy Regional Minister, dismissed the allegation saying it was baseless because the exercise was conducted in a clear and transparent manner. "Voting and counting of ballots were done in the full glare of the security personnel, a Council of State Member and the assembly members present in the house," he said. Mr Kale advised the assembly members to rather unite and cooperate with the DCE to help move the development of the district forward. He said the Wa East District is one of the most deprived districts in the country and urged the assembly members to be more concerned about issues of underdevelopment and not to involve themselves in acts that would stall development.