Minority to summon Local Government Minister over delayed MMDCEs naming

The Ranking Member of the Local Government Committee of Parliament, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has said that they will be forced to summon the Local Government Minister, before Parliament if the list is not published by the time the house resumes sittings.

“Our point is that the reports have been lying on the president’s table for weeks now, what is preventing him from acting on it? Legally, any decision taken by those acting in their stead now could be subject for litigation because what is their locus, the constitution never talks about the acting position,” he said.

Speaking in an interview MyNewsGh.com monitored, Nii Lante said they want President Akufo-Addo as a matter of urgency publish the list of the appointed Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

He added that “the constitution says that the President in exercising his discretionary powers cannot wait in perpetuity till he finds it convenient to appoint the MMDCEs. Local governance is a critical aspect of our national development.”

“To avoid all these we are asking that the President should as a matter of urgency come up with the list so we can move to approve them or otherwise, if by the time we resume Parliament, the list has not been published, we will summon the Minister of Local Governance to explain the reason behind the delay,” he added on Eyewitness News.

His comments come on the heels of comments by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin that the delay in appointing MMDCEs is not in any way hampering development at the local government level.