One of the Physically Challenge members expressing his grievances to the Regional minister as others looks on.
Drama unfolded during the inauguration of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly at Odumase Krobo in the Eastern Region when some Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) protested against their nominee for the assembly over the weekend.
The incident halted the inauguration of the Assembly members for over 15 minutes.
The PWDs accused the Municipal Chief Executive, Simeon Tetteh and the Municipal Social Welfare Director of selecting a woman who was not part of them.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that there were three groups of PWDs which comprised the visually impaired, physically challenged and deaf and dumb.
The bone of contention was that the physically challenged had always had their representative in the assembly.
The MCE took a unilateral decision to select a female teacher from the deaf and dumb group, which led to the misunderstanding.
During the inauguration, the physically challenged members protested against the decision of the assembly on grounds that the woman was not part of them.
They also argued that she does not live in the municipality and does not qualify to represent her group.
The Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, convinced the two parties to allow the female to represent her association, which paved the way for the 7thAssembly to be duly inaugurated after a successful district assembly election in October 2018.
The Assembly re-elected Awuley Mensa Benjamin as the Presiding Member, who had over 95% of the total votes cast. The members were sworn-in by Francis Gbedzro, the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court Judge.
Mr Tetteh, in his welcome address, applauded the professionalism displayed by the previous assembly members and encouraged the new members to help in the transformation of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality under his leadership.
Agyei Kwasi Boateng, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben North, on behalf of his boss, reiterated government’s commitment to supporting all assemblies in the country to offer quality service to their people.
He revealed that out of a total revenue of GH¢5,160,228.51 for the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly in 2018, only GH¢707,794.73 was from Internally Generated Funds (IGF).
“This constitutes just about 13 per cent. In 2017, out of a total revenue of GH¢6,626,939.00, IGF share was GH¢634,442.40, representing 9.57 per cent. This municipality deserves better,” he added.
From Daniel Bampoe, Odumase – Krobo