Biakoye DCE: Assembly Members Unhappy With Voting Process

The Concern Assembly members of Biakoye in the Volta Region, have expressed dissatisfaction at the conduct of the recently-held Assembly election for the confirmation of the District Chief Executive (DCE) nominee, Madam Millicent Kabuki Caboo.

The Assembly members, at a press conference held at Nkonya

Ahenkro which was attended by opinion leaders, chiefs and queen mothers of the area, indicated that the election was shrouded in secrecy and that had given cause to believe that something went amiss.

Addressing the press, Mr. Aganu Theophilus, Assembly member for Nkonya Ntsumuru, pointed out that, the said election which was the second to be conducted in respect of Millicent Kabuki Caboo’s nomination and re-nomination by the President was not transparent, free and fair as expected.

He said, the procedure for voting to confirm the nominee went on smoothly until voting was over, “…It will however surprise all our electorates and Ghanaians to note that the sorting and counting of the ballot papers after voting was done in secrecy.”

He said, even the Assembly members themselves, invited traditional rulers, the media and others present at the Nkonya Senior High School Assembly Hall where the voting took place, were all prevented from witnessing the sorting  and counting of the ballots.

According to him “…This process was shrouded in absolute secrecy with only the E.C. officials knowing what was happening.”

This development he indicated, defeats the free, fair and transparent electoral process for and for that reason, that are condemning the figures that was later mentioned after the secret sorting and counting.

Aganu Theophilus also mentioned that, “We strongly condemn in no uncertain terms the procedures adopted during the counting and the subsequent declaration of the results of the voting for the confirmation of the DCE.

They believe that what occurred was a calculated ploy by some people to impose Millicent Kabuki Caboo on the people and also to intimidate members of the Assembly, by using the police officers present who he noted, barricaded the ballot boxes and prevented people from witnessing the processes.

In order to avert such situation in the July 21 confirmation election, the concern assembly members are calling on members of the Biakoye District Assembly and heads of various Departments and Agencies in the District, to ensure that the coming processes are conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.

He averred that, they shall not countenance any form of intimidation from any individual or group of people who would want to repeat the ugly incident that took place during the previous voting exercise.

“We humbly request that there should be a polling agent each for both YES and NO ballots during the sorting and counting to put all doubts to rest,” he stated.

Also speaking to the Paramount Queen mother of Nkonya and Acting President of Biakoye Traditional Area, Nana Akubea II, appealed to the President, Nana Akufo-Addo to listen to the voice of the electorate through the Assembly members and respect their decision.

According to her, the electorates voted for the Assembly members to serve their interest and carry their decisions across, and that any attempt to downplay the authority of the electorates will breed disaster which will not auger well for the communities especially for a volatile area such as Biakoye.

Nana Akubea II said, the need to get qualified personality to man the affairs of the District must be paramount and that government must look at the decisions being taken by the Assembly members and withdraw the nomination of Millicent Kabuki Caboo, whose nomination seems to have the potential of adding to the existing woes the District is facing.

She suggested that, the president can nominate from the over fifteen names presented to his office by the Constituency executives who are equally and more than qualified for the job.

 It could be recall that the Biakoye District Assembly has rejected for the second time, Millicent Kabuki Caboo as the DCE.

During the first round of her confirmation, Millicent Kabuki Caboo was rejected when out of the total 43 votes she managed to get 18 while 25 voted against her nomination.

The president re-nominated her again for confirmation. But during the voting process, she had 23 votes in her favour whilst 2o voted against her.

Meanwhile, concern assembly members are of the view that these results could have been manipulated considering events that characterized the counting and collation processes.