Wilson Arthur
Assembly members of the Wassa East District of the Western Region will reconvene in 10 days for another round of voting after President Nana Akufo-Addo’s DCE nominee for the area failed to win a clear majority of votes in the first round which was held on Monday, May 8.
Mr Wilson Arthur, who has been appointed to lead the district, needed to poll at least two-thirds of the total number of ballots cast by assembly members before he could be duly elected as DCE but he fell short of the requirement.
The Chief Executive Officer of Skyy Media Group in Takoradi polled 19 votes out of 30, with 11 votes against, occasioning a re-run by the Electoral Commission’s representative, who oversaw the poll, in 10 days as stipulated by the constitution.
The nominee was supposed to garner 20 out of the 30 votes.
Prior to the poll, allies of the nominee had appealed to the assembly members to massively endorse him to ensure smooth running of the district but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
The president will need to make a new appointment for the position if his appointee fails to secure the mandatory two-thirds of votes after three elections.
Present were the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon Isaac Agyei Mensah, the Deputy Regional Minister, Gifty Eigenia Kusi as well as some traditional leaders in the district.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Daboase