Johnson Asiedu Nketia
The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia says District Assemblies concept should never be partisan since it would defeat the purpose of its introduction.
He has, however, accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of politicising the District Assemblies concept across the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
He said “we should blame the NPP for the politicisation of the current assemblies which has resulted in the inability of some MMDAs to elect Presiding Members after the inauguration of the new assembly members recently.”
After the inauguration of the assemblies across the Western Region, many assemblies in the area have failed to reach a consensus on the election of a Presiding Member, and notable among them is the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly.
The NDC National Chairman asserted that it was the NPP that came out to tell Ghanaians after last year’s District Level Elections that they had more members in the assemblies than the NDC.
“Even though the activities of the Assemblies should not be politicised, that was the impression the ruling party created when it came out to indicate that majority of its members were elected in the various assemblies,” he stated.
He said, “So when assembly members aligned to the NDC in the various assemblies heard what the NPP claimed, they decided to also vote along party lines in the selection of Presiding Members.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketia, in a radio interview in Takoradi, told listeners that apart from the Ashanti and Eastern Regions, sympathisers of the NDC are in majority in the assemblies of the rest of the regions.
“That is why several district assemblies are grappling with the challenge of electing Presiding Members,” he pointed out.
He explained that the District Assemblies concept was to ensure the accelerated development of the communities and rural areas.
“However, the NPP government has introduced Development Authorities which is not in the constitution but are given funds supposed to have been given to the assemblies, for different development projects,” he asserted.
He said the government has deliberately refused to use the decentralised structures in its scheme of things.
He could not fathom why the current government would procure ambulances and label them with the names of the various constituencies.
“We either have District or Regional hospitals. We do not have constituency hospitals. In our country’s planning scheme, the MMDAs are used while the constituencies are used to facilitate elections,” he added.
He continued, “Even during the COVID-19 era, the government refused to use the decentralised structures in the sharing of the various items to the people.”
He pointed out that the next NDC government would reduce the number of ministers and use the money to pay allowances to assembly members, nationwide.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi