National Dean of Presiding Members calls on Assemblies to confirm President’s nominees

Mr Joseph Korto, National Dean of Presiding Members on Thursday appealed to Assemblies to confirm the yet-to-be-released names of nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s for positions as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives.

That, he said would facilitate socio-economic development and growth and enhance unity among members.

Mr Korto, who doubles as the Presiding Member for the Tema Metropolitan Assembly was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency from Kumasi on the expectations of Assemblies on the names that would soon be released.

He said projects throughout the country had been delayed on account of the devastating effects of the global coronavirus pandemic and it was only fair for members to accept the President’s nominees without litigations to execute more development projects.

He said he had the conviction that the names to be released would be competent and performance-oriented personalities and advised members against tendencies that could undermine the process.

“We have lost a lot of time and resources due to the pandemic and there is no more time left for litigations. Let’s move on by confirming the nominees to accelerate development.”

He said all things being equal, they would organize a national conference for Presiding Members in October this year and called all members to brace up for it to deliberate on issues that would catapult development in succeeding years.

Mr Korto and the National Executives on behalf of Regional Presiding Members called on Parliament to institute and pass a bill for the establishment of the Electoral Area Development Fund to offer people at the electoral areas the opportunity to make inputs for the development of their areas.

Mr Korto appealed to government to also establish Secretariats for Presiding Members as part of the decentralization policy that would remove bureaucratic bottlenecks at grassroots levels.

He said the welfare of Assembly Members was paramount and therefore needed serious attention for them to perform effectively.

“The Members of Parliament have a fund that they use for some development projects and it will therefore not be out of place for the Assembly Members to also have same to execute basic amenities for their electorate.”

He called for regular capacity-building projects for members to be abreast with the developmental trends of the country and beyond