33 DCEs To Be Sacked

Facts emerging from the corridors of power indicate that in the next two weeks, President John Agyekum Kufuor will release the full list of District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives for 'Positive Change Chapter II.'

This follows the completion of security checks on their backgrounds and general past records requested by the government, on all those who have applied to be appointed and re-appointed as chief executives.

But The Independent can reveal that out of the 110 current acting DCEs, about 33 representing 30% of them will be sacked for various reasons, while about 77 of them representing 70% will be retained.

Investigations by The Independent have established that as at last Friday when the critical assessment (vetting) and security checks on the nominees were concluded, about 33 DCEs were found wanting because their performance and other elated issues did not meet the criteria set by the government of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Among the disqualifying criteria set by government, The Independent can disclose, are autocratic and arrogant tendencies on the part of DCEs, their inaccessibility to people in their districts, misapplication of Common Fund and other revenue raised by the various respective Assemblies.

Other criteria are the nature of the DCEs relationship with Assembly members and the people they come into contact with, health, age, smartness and analytical abilities and general comportment in the day to day administration of their districts. Enquiries by The Independent Newspaper established that the process of selecting a new fresh set of DCEs, which was stalled by the vetting and security background checks, has now been concluded and the names of recommended and de-recommended DCEs already compiled.

Investigations further uncovered that the findings and the final report will this week be laid on the desk of President John Agyekum Kufuor, who is expected to assemble his team of advisors on local government to discuss the report in detail. The President is expected to hold extensive consultation on the appointments of DCEs, as he is said to have been woefully disappointed by the abysmal performance and the flamboyant and arrogant lifestyles of some DCEs whose negative behaviour have given his administration a bad name.