By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The Omanhene of Asante Mampong, Daasebre Osei Bonsu, has urged the newly reconstituted Mampong Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti region to investigate how much the Assembly received as its share of the Distance Assemblies Common Fund and how it was disbursed and used in the last four years.
According to him, the Common Fund remains one of the major revenue sources that complement the internally generated funds for development at the local communities, and its disbursement must also be transparent, including the allocation to the Silver Stool to enable the traditional authorities to also function effectively.
Daasebre Osei Bonsu gave the advice at Asante Mampong at the swearing-in of newly elected Assembly Members and Government Appointees.
The 5th Mampong Municipal Assembly is constituted by 49 members, including 33 elected persons, the Member of Parliament, Kwaku Sarpong Ampratwum, who is also a Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the Municipal Chief Executive, Thomas Appiah Kubi; and GBC’s Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Nicholas Osei-Wusu, representing the people of Nintin and Hwidiem.
The District MMagistrate,Dennis Fumey EEyiram,led the new Assembly Members to swear the Oaths of Office, and Secrecy.
The Omanhene of Mampong advised the Assembly Members to make the concerns and development of their respective electoral areas their major considerations since that will be the benchmark for their assessment at the end of their tenure.
Daasebre Osei Bonsu called for initiative and innovation among functionaries at the Assembly to propel progress.
He commended the civil and public servants for their continuous dedication to work but advised those with negative work ethics to change for the better.
Therefore, the usual political power play should be shelved. The Municipal Chief Executive, Thomas Appiah Kubi, reminded the Assembly Members of their legal mandate of representation and grass root participation in the local government system.
He thanked members of the immediate past Assembly for their invaluable contribution to governance of the Mampong Municipality.
The Chief Director at the Local Government Office, Mrs. Felicia Dapaah, disclosed that following the inauguration of the new Assemblies, government will soon roll out various orientation and capacity building programmes to empower the Assembly Members perform their functions well.
She asked them to team up with the Municipal Chief Executives and other principal officers of the Assembly to improve upon its internally generated funds for development.
Meanwhile, the reconstituted Municipal Assembly failed to elect a Presiding Member after two rounds of voting.In the first round of voting, the Assembly Member for Woraso, Pious Godfred, polled 25 votes, while his only contender, Ebenezer Tuffuor of Kofiase, had 24 votes.
The second round of voting led to Pious Godfred’s total votes increasing by one vote but was far below the (33) votes that constitute a two-thirds majority tally legally required to emerge as the winner.
The Assembly will reconvene within 10 days to vote on the two candidates. Per the law, if neither of them is able to win that election, they will both step aside for new candidates to step in.
The Assembly also adopted Sign Language, Twi and English as its media of expression during Meetings.