The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Local Government Committee, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has asked President Akufo-Addo to disclose the list of appointed Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) as soon as possible.
Nii Lante Vanderpuye stated that “the constitution says that the President, in exercising his discretionary powers, cannot wait in perpetuity till he finds it convenient to appoint the MMDCEs.” Local governance is an important element of our country’s development.”
He said that if the list is not released by the time the house resumes sittings, his committee would be compelled to call the Local Government Minister before Parliament.
“Our point is that the reports have been lying on the president’s table for weeks now, what is preventing him from acting on it? Legally, any decision taken by those acting in their stead now could be subject for litigation because what is their locus, the constitution never talks about the acting position.”
“To avoid all these we are asking that the President should as a matter of urgency come up with the list so we can move to approve them or otherwise, if by the time we resume Parliament, the list has not been published, we will summon the Minister of Local Governance to explain the reason behind the delay,” he added.
His remarks follow those of the Presidency’s Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin, who said that the delay in selecting MMDCEs is not impeding progress at the local government level.
The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana, on the other hand, believes there is no reason for concern.
Bismark Basie Nkum, President of NALAG, said, “Indeed, the process has been delayed, but we cannot backtrack to January.” The appointments were made somewhere in May. And so it is wrong to say it’s has delayed for 8 months. It has been for about 23 days and even with that there are acting executives in there and so these concerns are not weighty enough.”
“Also, we should know that the offices of the Chief Executives do not necessarily come to an end when the President’s does.”
The government has been chastised for failing to nominate new MMDCEs eight months into a new administration.
According to Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, these nominations are solely the responsibility of the President.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered in January that existing MMDCEs stay in office until new ones are appointed.
Since then, over 1,300 people have applied for MMDCE positions throughout the country.
These individuals were subjected to vetting procedures in each area, and a committee was formed to evaluate and select such individuals and provide findings to the President.
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