By Alfred Adams
As at the time that some district assemblies were struggling to elect presiding members to steer their affairs, the Aowin District Assembly has successfully elected a tutor at the Enchi Training College, Mr. Johnson Ackah Kofi, as its Presiding Member.
Mr. Ackah polled a total of 27 out of 35 to beat the incumbent, Mr. Isaac Mensah-Monnie, who is also a senior tutor of the Enchi College of Education. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Ackah thanked his colleague assembly members for the confidence reposed in him, and promised to work hard in the interest of all.
He said during his tenure of office he would be visiting all elected assembly members in their respective electoral areas, so as to know their challenges and how best to help solve them. He, however, advised the assembly members to work in unity with unit committee members, nananom, and all stakeholders to solve, especially, sanitation problems in various communities.
The successful election of the PM comes immediately after the assembly was inaugurated. Delivering his welcome address at the inaugural ceremony, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Aowin, Mr. Oscar Ofori Larbi, tasked the assembly members, both elected and appointed by government, to carry out the mandate of the district assembly for the next four years.
He said it was gratifying to note that some of the members had been re-elected, whilst others re-appointed. “This means that we still have a good number of old experienced members who will be sharing their accumulated wealth of experience with the new members who have just joined the assembly.”
He added: “Your election and appointment as assembly members is a mark of confidence the people have in you. You are, therefore, expected to live up to expectations. For the duration of your four-year term in office, you are to serve your people and country at the local government level, in a way and manner that will let people appreciate the fact that they are truly participating in the decision-making process and governance of the nation”.
Mr. Larbi used the occasion to advise the new members to come out with strategies in collaboration with management to generate adequate revenue to complement the efforts of the central government. “You must ensure that funds provided by the central government, as well as that which is internally generated, are prudently managed.”
He said another area worthy of mention was the management of environmental sanitation. This was because the government had invested huge sums of money, yet not much had been achieved. So as an assembly member, “you are, therefore, requested to put premium on sanitation and waste management activities to rid our towns and cities of filth and health problems associated with insanitary conditions.”