Assemblies to have appointment committees… To vet and approve DCEs in future

A suggestion has been made for District Assemblies to have appointment committees just like Parliament for the vetting of ministers, to vet District Chief Executives (DCEs), who would be nominated in future.

Mr. Cletus Avoka, Minister of the Interior, made the proposal when he addressed the Bawku West District Assembly at Zebilla at the weekend, during its voting to confirm the President's nominee as District Chief Executive (DCE).

He explained that the formation of such committees would be the best way for the endorsement of DCEs, and said he would lobby Parliament on the issue.

Mr. Avoka, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla in the Upper East Region, said the vetting of DCEs would enable the public volunteer information about nominees.

He said that the idea of approving DCEs through voting by assembly members, was labourious and expensive on the part of the nominees, since they had to go round to campaign for votes.

The Minister expressed concern about the fact that heads of departments in the district did not contribute to discussions relating to development during assembly sittings, and asked them to be part of decision-making at the assembly level.

Mr. Avoka advised the heads of departments to channel their official requests through the DCE to him, so that he could negotiate with the Ministry concerned to satisfy their needs, since that would be faster than channeling it directly to the headquarters in Accra.

Mr. Moro Adams Anaba, who failed to secure the two thirds of the assembly to become the DCE on 28th May, this time, got 39 votes out of 41, representing 95.1 per cent. - GNA