Adjiri Blankson confirmed as Mayor of Accra

Accra, June 2, GNA - Members of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Thursday confirmed Mr Stanley Adjiri Blankson as Mayor of Accra, by giving him 98 per cent of the votes cast.

Eighty-nine out of the 91 members present voted to retain him while one voted against him and a ballot was rejected.

Some members, who caught the eye of the Presiding Member (PM) Ben Annan, said the House was in favour of the Mayor and that the election was unnecessary and a waste of time.

The PM, however, stood his ground saying, "the law requires that voting be conducted and so be it".

When voting finally began members took their ballot papers amidst cheers and name calling till counting came to a close.

Members of the House began to sing: "Aba mu awie" literally meaning, "It has come to pass", when the Electoral Officer, Mr Yaw Asare Adarkwah officially declared Mr Adjiri Blankson confirmed by the Assembly.

In his acceptance speech, the Mayor expressed his gratitude to the members saying: "I'm profoundly overwhelmed by what you have done. You have shown unprecedented support and I hope this will be the beginning of a new chapter in our bid to make Accra a befitting city." He urged the members to be united as a focused team and to work to plug all the loopholes, which had left the AMA in a financial haemorrhage.

Mr Blankson said it was unfortunate that a few bad nuts at the Assembly were enriching themselves from revenue that should come to the Assembly.

He, therefore, called on the staff of AMA to change their attitude and character to enable AMA to realise substantial revenue that could heal the wounds of the Metropolis.

"The way forward now is to repair damages and get things properly done," he told the members.

Earlier, Sheikh Ibrahim C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional and the Deputy regional Minister, Miss Gloria Akuffo asked members of the Assembly to do away with political affiliation and vote in a mature manner to help Accra and for that matter Ghana to move forward.