Chiefs Kick Against Dormaa East DCE

Nana Sabi Ababio, Chief of Wamanafo-Sabikrom

The chiefs, during a press conference held at the palace of the Wamanafo chief on Monday, warned that they would not cooperate with Mr Kyeremeh should the Regional Minister and the government disregard their pleas.

It would be recalled that majority of the assembly members voted against Mr Kyeremeh on two occasions.

During the second round of election, some well-built men believed to have been hired by the DCE, stormed the venue and violently took the ballot papers in the full glare of the police and other key government officials after many NO votes were counted.

The beleaguered DCE claimed the second confirmation ceremony ended abruptly and that the Electoral Commission (EC) erred by declaring him loser in the said election.

He also petitioned the EC to re-run the election.
Though the Regional Director of the EC, George Gyabaah told DAILY GUIDE that the matter had been referred to the Chairman of the EC, the chiefs in the area said they had been reliably informed that the President had re-nominated the DCE.

The Chief of Wamanafo-Sabikrom, Nana Sabi Ababio, who addressed the media at the press conference, said all the divisional chiefs in the district unanimously decided to reject the nomination of Mr Kyeremeh at a recent traditional council meeting.

According to Nana Sabi Ababio, who doubles as  Mansen Twafohene, the chiefs in the district would oppose a third confirmation ceremony because of the possible commotion in the district, as their subjects have vowed to stop the elections.

The press conference was attended by some constituency executives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), assembly members and people of Wamanafo amidst intermittent shouts. They virtually declared war on the embattled DCE.

Our action is not a personal hatred for the DCE, but an expression of the concerns of the people, Nana Sabi Ababio said.

They leveled several allegations against Mr Kyeremeh describing him as an ineffective DCE.

The chiefs claimed, among other things, that the beleaguered DCE used inferior building materials in the execution of the Wamanafo Market project, which had stalled.

They claimed the DCE failed to upgrade the deplorable roads in the various communities in the district, including the Wamanafo-Sabikrom-Gambia Road.

They said several pleas to the DCE to evacuate a refuse dump, which posed as a health risk to school children due to its proximity to the school, were ignored.

The chiefs also accused the DCE of poorly constructing a building for the Wamanafo R/C School.

Assemblyman for Kyeremansu Electoral Area, Daniel Akwasi Agyemang, said members of the assembly had vowed to resist a third confirmation ceremony.

He said 'the Constitution and the Assembly's Model Standing Orders say where the President's nominee fails to win the required two-thirds at the second ballot, the President shall withdraw his nomination,' he explained.

Mr. Kyeremeh, for his part, alleged that the Wamanafo chief was trying to support his favourite to unseat him, hence the numerous accusations leveled against him.

The DCE explained that he did everything possible to bring development projects to Wamanafo, which angered some assembly members in the district.

FROM Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani