There is no need for supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to hit the streets over the appointments of District Chief Executives (DCEs) as announced by Local Government Minister Hajia Alima Mahama on Wednesday April 26, Dr Edward Brenya, a political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said.
According to him, if party supporters, especially assembly members, do not support the president’s nominee, they will have the option of voting against that person. Following that the president would be forced to withdraw that nominee and replace him.
For this reason, he said the street agitations were needless although there may be genuine concerns for embarking on such action.
Several youth groups in the Twifo Atti Morkwa district of the Central Region have staged a series of demonstrations in protest to the President’s choice of District Chief Executive (DCE).
Michael Asante, a freelance journalist who visited the area, explained to ClassFMonline.com that the angry youth staged the non-violent protests to put pressure on the President to reverse the appointment of Robert Agyemang Nyantakyi.
The group, which claimed to be concerned members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), indicated that Mr Nyantakyi did not play any active role prior to the victory of the party in the 2016 polls and burnt car tyres at the premises of the district assembly to register their displeasure on Thursday, April 27.
The Twifo Atti Morkwa incident is one of many protests that have arisen after the announcement of 212 persons as Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) across the country on Wednesday, April 26.
Incidences of groups embarking on violent protests have been recorded at Mpohor Wassa East, Asunafo North, Savelugu, Sagnarigu, and other districts.
But speaking on this development in an interview on Accra News on Thursday, Dr Brenya said: “The assembly members will have to vote to either approve the president’s nominee or not and so if the assembly members reject the nominee, the president will be forced to withdraw him or her and replace with another one who probably will be the people’s preference.
“They can also always vote against the nominee so that whoever influenced his appointment realises that ‘yes, you can nominate but we will have to approve.’
“It is not right for them to be vandalising properties as a way of demonstrating their anger or displeasure towards the names that have emerged.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
