Hostilities marked inauguration

Pandemonium broke out during the inauguration of the Asunafo District Assembly at Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region on Monday when some of the assembly members and a section of the electorate attempted to forcibly remove the assembly's former presiding member, Mr Yusif Abdulai, from the high table.

They claimed that Mr Abdulai, also known as Nana Osei Dae Ababio, did not deserve to occupy the high table because he ceased to be the presiding member from the day the old assembly was dissolved, but the chief thought otherwise. Nana Ababio, who is the chief of Konkromase, a suburb of Kumasi, insisted that he would not leave the high table because no new presiding member had been elected to replace him and secondly, he was seeking re-election and was hopeful that he would emerge victorious.

The action of Nana Ababio sparked off hostilities and it took the 13 strong policemen at the function more than 15 minutes to restore order and eventually rescue Nana Ababio, who is an elected assembly member for Akordie, from the angry attackers and escorted him to take his seat among his colleagues.

Earlier in the morning between 9 and 10 a.m, another nasty incident occurred when supporters of Nana Ababio and the new presiding member-to-be Nana Boakye Danquah, Chief of Fawohohyeden, clashed during which the clothes of some of them were torn.

Those who opposed the re-election of Nana Ababio perceived him to be an NDC activist and said he has no business with the NPP administration. The timely intervention of the police averted what would have been a bloody brawl.

At the end of the day, Nana Boakye Danquah, who is also the accountant of the Dormaa District Assembly, defeated Nana Ababio to become the new presiding member after two rounds of voting.

Nana Danquah secure 45 votes as against 23 by Nana Ababio while a ballot was rejected in the first round of the election, which was conducted by officials from the electoral commission.

During the second ballot, Nana Ababio threw in the towel but the EC officials went ahead to conduct the election that resulted in the 66-3 landslide victory for Nana Danquah.

The Deputy Minister of Communication and Technology, Mr John Achuliwor, who performed the inaugural ceremony on behalf of the President , deplored the nasty incident and advised the assembly members to try to live in peace and harmony.

He advised them to bury the hatchet and work in unity to develop the district that abounds in natural and human resources.

Mr Achuliwor said judging from the comments made by various people during the recent district assembly elections, it seems the non-party elections constitute a huge exercise in self-deception, as it appears the political parties unofficially sponsored candidates. He stressed the need for the introduction of some form of competition among districts as incentive in the revenue collection drive.

Mr George Boakye, the Asunafo District Chief Executive, advised the assembly members to steer off chieftaincy disputes because those who are deeply involved in such disputes will likely not get the overall support of the electorate and this will adversely affect their performance.

He urged them to assist the revenue collectors in revenue mobilisation for the assembly to undertake more development projects to speed up the progress of the area.

The chairman of the Asunafo Community Tribunal, Mr Williwise Kyeremeh, swore in the 69 assembly members.

Present at the ceremony were Messers Benjamin Osei Kuffour and George William Amponsah, MPs for Asunafo North and Asunafo South, respectively.