The Head of Local Government Service, Dr Stephen Nana Ato Arthur, has said despite a few cases where some appointees failed to be endorsed, the generally overwhelming endorsement of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) by their respective assemblies is encouraging.
“Despite the general endorsement, there are a few pockets of rejection. However, indications are that the President’s appointments have generally received overwhelming endorsement,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
Speaking on the outcome of the exercise to endorse the President’s appointees, Dr Ato Arthur said so far about 80 per cent of the nominees had been approved by the majority of the assemblies.
Due diligence
He attributed the success of the exercise to due diligence by the President, the team that interviewed and shortlisted the applicants, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the assembly members.
Dr Ato Arthur described as significant the number of nominees who secured 100 per cent confirmation and said the move was outstanding.
He commended the team that interviewed the nominees for the ‘bottom-up’ approach it took during the exercise.
The Head of the Local Government Service expressed the hope that the cordial relations that characterised the endorsement would be extended throughout the tenure of the office of the MMDCEs for effective planning for the development of their respective areas.
Mixed reactions
It would be recalled that while the majority of the people hailed the announcement of the names of the 216 MMDCEs appointed by the President, some few others expressed skepticism about some of them. In some areas, people petitioned the President over the appointees while others embarked on demonstrations to back their demand for the President to rescind his decision over some of them.
The approval of the appointees got underway in a whirlwind fashion following their overwhelming approval nationwide.
The Upper West Region was the first in the country to give a one-time confirmation to all the 11 Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs) nominated by the President.
Twenty-two of the 26 MMCEs in the Northern Region have been confirmed, with 28 out of 30 in the Ashanti Region given the nod. Similar results have been recorded in the Central, Greater Accra, Volta, Eastern, Brong Ahafo and the Western regions.
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