Some assembly members in the Akatsi South Municipality have triggered a move to remove Mr Yao Thomas Atidepe, its presiding member from office.
They accused Mr Atidepe among others, of failure to consult or brief members as required before performing some official duties and intended to pass a ‘vote of no confidence’ in him.
They also added that Mr Atidepe was bringing the Assembly into disrepute by divulging official issues into the public domain.
These were contained in a request letter signed by some aggrieved members calling for an emergency meeting to pass a vote of no confidence to remove Mr Atidepe from office.
“This is clearly in violation of the Oath of Secrecy he took when he was sworn into office,” the statement read.
The aggrieved members also revealed that the term of office for Mr Atidepe had elapsed since January 2022 but he refused to bow out claiming his time was not due, and that “Our petition to the Volta Regional Coordinating (VRCC) Council for advice on the situation was met with a positive response, with the directive to proceed with a new election,” Edward Adade, an aggrieved member for Tatorme- Fiato Electoral Area disclosed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
Mr Atidepe, in an interaction with the GNA, said his term of office would end in January 2023 since he was elected on November 5, 2020, and was sworn into office on January 28, 2021.
He further argued that the move by some of his colleagues would rather bring disunity among them, saying “the law would come into force to get the right things done.”
However, Mr Kofitsey Martin Nyahe, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Akatsi South, when contacted, disclosed that a directive from Mr Prosper Afenyo, the acting Volta Regional Coordinating Director on behalf of the Regional Minister has given them the clearance to conduct elections to elect a presiding member.
Regulation 9(3) of the model standing orders for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District assemblies provides that, “the election of a presiding member shall be the second business to be transacted at the inaugural meeting of the first session and the first business to be transacted at the third session of a meeting of the assembly.”
Out of the 28 elected members, some 16 members have so far signed a letter purported to pass a vote of no confidence in the PM.
Source: ghananews.com.gh