The sixth inaugural ceremony of newly elected and appointed assembly members for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was characterised by spectacle when the newly elected member for the Mudor Electoral Area was asked not to join his colleagues in taking the oath of office.
The notice, which some thought should have been given to Mr Victor Afantei Sykes, the assembly member elect, prior to the event and save him the public humiliation of being sent out of a ceremony he attended with anticipation of being inducted into office, was received with shock by some guests who graced the occasion.
Reading the court injunction, Mr Samuel Akrong, of the AMA Legal Department, stated that based on the interim court injunction, the assembly cannot induct Mr Afantei Sykes into office.
“Hence his induction has been deferred pending the final determination of the interim injunction,” he said.
Dated October 5, the injunction, filed by one Jonathan Nii Commey Mettle Otoo, cited irregularities in the just-ended district assembly elections in the area under dispute.
Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Metropolitan Chief Executive, AMA, stated that the Local Government System was established in 1988 to diffuse power from the top periphery and ensure bottom-up approach in governance to promote development and qualitative change in the lives of the people.
“The district assembly elections give full meaning to Ghana’s decentralisation process, which is enshrined in the 1992 Constitution,” he held.
The MCE urged the inducted members to strive for excellence in their service and uphold the mission statement of the assembly.
Naa Professor J.S. Nabila, Member of Council of State and President of National House of Chiefs, who read the presidential inaugural address, told the assembly members that their election and appointment was a mark of confidence reposed in them by people, and as such they should live up to their responsibilities.
According to him, the role of the assembly member is crucial since they are expected to explain policies for a better understanding to the ordinary Ghanaian in a participatory democracy that the country has adopted.
“The unique roles assembly members play in exercising their functions, especially at the grassroots, has helped to promote good governance, democracy and peace in the country,” he added.
He reiterated that assembly members are required to work for the public good not for personal interest.
Naa Professor Nabila challenged the inducted assembly members to work efficiently to rid cities of the unplanned and haphazard development currently plaguing assemblies nationwide.
Right Rev S.M. Torto, Anglican Bishop of Accra, charged the newly inducted assembly members not to use their new office as a moneymaking machine.
“Serve the people who elected you into office and not yourselves; be disciplined and work in harmony with the MCE to transform our city into a millennium city,” he advised.
Mr Abdul-Razak Issah, assembly member for Akweteman, assured that they would work tirelessly to transform the city of Accra.
He appealed to the Members of Parliament present to work on the law for assemblymen to be paid, to enable them work effectively to attain the heights of development that would ensure the prosperity of all.
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