Inauguration of the Third (3rd) Assembly of Denkyembour District Assembly
Posted by Elvis Offei-Bekoe - 23rd January, 2020
On Thursday, 23rd January 2020, the Denkyembuor District Assembly (DDA) inaugurated its third Assembly at the District’s assembly hall. The inauguration was preceded with a registration process of newly elected and appointed assembly members and other guests.
The programme began at exactly 2:15 pm with Rev. Emmanuel Blankson, head pastor of Assemblies of God Church Akwatia, leading the house with a very powerful opening prayer. Madam Juliana Ansah was called upon to introduce the chairman for the occasion. She introduced Osabarima Kofi Boateng III, Chief of Akwatia as the chairman of the inauguration ceremony.
In the opening remarks of the Chairman, Osabarima expressed his profound gratitude for being selected among the others to grace such an honourable occasion. He thanked the management of the Assembly and welcomed the other members on the high table for taking time out of their busy schedules to grace such a memorable and honourable occasion. He also stated that the process of the election of the presiding member is a peaceful and calm one.
A short introduction of the high table and the clergy was introduced to the house. Personalities at the high table of the occasion included Honourable Kingston Kissi Akomeng; Eastern Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Madam Kate Gyamfua; National Women Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Her Ladyship Mrs Cynthia Blagodzie; the District magistrate, Mr Yaw Dankwah Agyekum; Denkyembuor District Police Commander, Honourable Mercy Adu Gyamfi; Member of Parliament for Akwatia Constituency and His Excellency Paa Kofi Ansong; a Member of the Council of State and the President’s Representative for the occasion.
The ceremony continued with a welcome address from the District Chief Executive of the Denkyembuor District Assembly, Honourable Seth Ofosu Birikorang. He welcomed the people on the high table and all other people present to the inauguration of the third Assembly. He went on to state a few projects that are ongoing in the District. He mentioned that road construction was on the heart of the assembly and that a few of the construction works had already begun. He also mentioned that plans are far advanced to improve the mining of diamond in the District which has seen some decline in recent times. He stated that Education and Agriculture would be elevated in the District and not focus on only the mining of diamond. He assured the president’s representative, His Excellency Paa Kofi Ansong that all the flagships programmes of the government such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Economic and Rural Development, Free Senior High School and other flagship programmes will be upheld in the Denkyembuor District.
The inauguration proceeded with the swearing-in of the newly elected assembly members of the various electoral areas. A total of Thirty (30) Assembly Members comprising twenty-one (21) elected and nine (9) appointees were sworn into office to oversee the activities of the District Assembly for the next four years. Her Ladyship Mrs Cynthia Blagodzie, the District Magistrate took them through the oaths and swore them into the office and congratulated them on their election and appointment into office.
Osabarima Asare Oware III, Chief of Akyem Apinamang, who was also the representative of the traditional council congratulated the Assembly Members on their election and appointment as Assembly members, saying it was a mark of confidence the electorates and government had reposed in them. He encouraged the Assembly members to be very vigilant in their various electoral areas and help bring improvements into the lives of people living in their various communities. “Work with all the passion and dedication you can gather. Whether rain or shine, make it a point to put the electoral area and the assembly first in everything you do,” he explained.
The Address by the President of the Republic of Ghana was delivered by the President’s Representative to the inauguration, His Excellency Paa Kofi Ansong. He gave his warm thanks to the Assembly for conducting a successful District level election which was held on 17th December 2019. He also congratulated all elected and appointed Assembly members into the Assembly. He charged the Assembly members, together with the District Chief Executive, to advance the implementation of government programmes in the Co-ordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies. He tasked the assembly to work hand-in-hand with the National Digital Property Addressing System and the Ghana Post GPS to achieve street naming and property address in the district.
“I, thus, charge your assembly to use its bye-laws to enforce compliance in sanitation management and environmental health standards and rules to ensure a clean and healthy environment”, he added.
He concluded by urging the Assembly to create a platform for stakeholders, using tools such as town hall meetings and general community engagement to establish a strong linkage between duty bearers and the citizens of the assembly. He expressed his good wishes to the assembly and declared the assembly inaugurated
The chairman for the ceremony, Osabarima Kofi Boateng III, gave his closing remarks. He challenged all Assembly members to do all it takes to bring developmental programmes to their various electoral areas. He also told them to give all the necessary respect to the chiefs and traditional leaders of their respective electoral areas. He urged the Assembly members to comport themselves and peacefully elect a presiding member after the inauguration.
The second part of the ceremony began shortly after the closure of the first part of the ceremony. The Electoral Commission of the district set up the venue for elections of the presiding member position. After a brief review of the rules of the election, the candidates aspiring the presiding member position, Honourable Asante Kennedy and Honourable John Oswald Quansah were introduced by the Electoral Commission and were given some time to give a short speech before the election.
The election began and after the first round of voting and counting, Honourable Asante Kennedy had 16 votes and Honourable John Oswald Quansah had 10 votes. 21 votes or more, however, was needed to declare a winner for the position of the presiding member. Before the runoff could begin, Honourable John Oswald Quansah stepped down of the election, leaving Honourable Asante Kennedy running unopposed for the second round. A unanimous vote was cast after 31 out of 31 members of the assembly including the District Chief Executive voted yes in favour of Honourable Asante Kennedy
Honourable Asante Kennedy, the Presiding Member-elect expressed his gratitude to all assembly members for voting for him to become the next presiding member. He urged to uphold and defend the good name of the District and pledged to work with all his strength and might, through broader consultation, to raise high, the flag of the district.
The Regional Coordinating Director thanked everyone for a peaceful election and announced the date for the formation of committees of the assembly. The programme came to an end at around 5:25 pm