Bismark Baisie Nkum
The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) has called for an amendment of portions of the Constitution to ensure that the operations of the law in local government are in tandem with the provisions of the constitution.
According NALAG, Article 50 sub-section 1(b) of the Constitution which talks about public elections states that, “If by the time of the closure of any nominations and there is only one nominee, that person will be declared elected.”
“This means that there will be no elections.
“But this is not the case in local government, where an aspiring Presiding Member (PM) of a district assembly will require two-thirds majority to win an election,” President of NALAG, Bismark Baisie Nkum, stated.
The issue of presiding members failing to meet the constitutional requirement has become common over the years, leading to some district assemblies operating without presiding members.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in an exclusive interview, Bismark Baisie Nkum said there is the need for a review of the Constitution to allow for the election of PMs for district assemblies by simple majority.
He explained that under the law, a presiding member, who has a tenure of two years, and is eligible for re-election, presides over the meetings of the assembly, among other functions prescribed by law.
He was speaking at the sidelines of the election of a PM for the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly, in the Western Region.
He said the current nature of the law, which requires a nominee to attain two-thirds of the votes of the membership of the entire assembly, undermined the election process, and made it difficult for nominees to meet the requirement.
He disclosed that many assemblies had failed to elect presiding members due to the strict nature of the law.
“The Constitution requires that not less than two-thirds of the membership of the entire assembly should be able to elect a presiding member.
“This means that even if one member does not attend the meeting, his absence is factored in the calculation,” he explained.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi