By Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Sogakope
The South Tongu District Assembly (STDA) at Sogakope in the Volta Region, has rejected the President’s nominee for the position of District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area.
The rejection of the nominee, Mr Innocent Tetteh also known as ‘Supremo’, sparked anger and frustration among some party faithfuls and supporters who witnessed the well-attended confirmation event.
The attempt to confirm a new political head for the district, followed the recent revocation of the appointment of the former DCE by the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo.
This is the first time in several years that a youth of the area, has been nominated by the President to either to occupy such a position or be confirmed as DCE for the area.
The event was witnessed by the Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, who led a high-powered government delegation to the programme.
Also present were chiefs, heads of departments of the assembly, as well as some party faithfuls and supporters, all of who were subjected to security checks and a rigorous accreditation checks by the police before being admitted into the Assembly Hall.
All the forty (40) elected Assembly Members (AMs) and the eighteen (18) Government Appointees were present and voted in the two-hour confirmation exercise conducted by the District Electoral Commission under its Deputy Head, Mrs. Charlotte Koduah.
The President’s nominee had thirty (30) ‘Yes’ votes approximately representing fifty-one (51) percent and twenty-eight (28) ‘No’ votes constituting almost forty-nine (49) percent.
The outcome of the results had given the nominee another window of hope to be considered again for confirmation within the next ten (10) days.
The rejection of Mr Innocent Tetteh, caused some anger among some of the youth and party faithfuls and supporters who graced the occasion to lend their support to the process.
They accused the AMs of bad faith amongst others, arguing why they could not confirm a youthful person to head the district for the rest of the year, 2024.
One of such angry youths our newsteam caught up with, described the development as worrying and disappointing, saying the action of the AMs amounted to thwarting the developmental efforts of the constituency.
The Presiding Member (PO) of the Assembly, was equally not happy about the turn of events and pleaded with her colleagues to do the needful in the expected second round of the confirmation event.
Victoria Dzeklo, told our newsteam in an interview that she could not tell what exactly accounted for the rejection of the nominee.
“Mr Innocent Tetteh came to us, spoke with us, he did what he should do, we assured him only to end up with the results we saw”, the Hon. PM lamented.
She was, however, fully optimistic that the AMs would do the needful during the next confirmation exercise.
Earlier in his address to the AMs, the Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, pleaded with them to give the nominee a one hundred (100) percent confirmation vote.
He reminded them of the President’s commitment to ensuring that the development projects earmarked for the district are completed, including tackling some of the rural road networks in the district.
The Regional Minister’s delegation, included the DCEs for North and Central Tongu, Divine Osborn Fenu and Thomas Moore Zonyrah, respectively.
When the President’s nominee is finally approved, the South Tongu District, would have had three (3) DCEs within eight (eight) years.
Meanwhile, the President’s nominee for the Adaklu District Assembly (ADA) has also been rejected by their AMs.
