An electoral officer (speaking into the microphone) announcing the results after the polls
Correspondence from the Eastern Region
The Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly (LMKMA) in the Eastern Region has yet again failed to elect a Presiding Member (PM) to preside over its meetings after six consecutive attempts on three different occasions.
None of the candidates was able to garner the mandated two-thirds of the total votes cast in the previous elections to secure the position.
The latest Electoral Commission (EC) supervised polls held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Municipal Assembly, saw none of the three candidates who vied for the position obtain the required numbers after two rounds of voting per the Local Government Act to make any of them PM of the LMKMA.
After the first round, District Electoral Officer, Jonathan Okine, announced that government appointee and former Assemblyman for Kpong Zongo, Siba Alhassan, polled 6 votes, with Raymond Gborson, Assemblyman for Kpong-Ahundjo, and Amatey George Laweh, Assemblyman for Akotoe, polling 10 and 18 votes respectively, all falling short of the 31 votes required.
10 rejected ballots were recorded during the process.
The second round involving the two top candidates also failed to produce a winner, with Amatey George Laweh maintaining his 18 Votes and Raymond Gborson increasing to 15. As many as 11 ballots were rejected.
This meant that none of the three contestants qualified to lead the assembly as its presiding member.
The Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly is composed of 45 members made up of 33 elected members, 11 government appointees, and the District Chief Executive (DCE).
The District Coordinating Director, Selorm Tibu, in his opening remarks prior to the exercise, pleaded with the assembly members to elect a leader who would steer the affairs of the assembly to facilitate development in the district.
He noted that the absence of a PM is affecting the assembly’s decision-making process and implementation of projects and programmes.
The election of a PM has become very crucial to enable the House to approve President John Dramani Mahama’s appointee to the office of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE).
The Constituency Chairman, John Atter Matey, who sat through Wednesday’s exercise, was on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, named by the president as his nominee to the municipality, but the absence of a PM would serve as a roadblock towards his confirmation.
The House in February 2024, after two rounds of elections, each held on two separate dates, similarly failed to elect a PM to lead the august House after none of the contestants polled the mandated 2/3rd votes required, leaving it without a leader.
Expressing his disappointment over his inability to obtain the required votes on Wednesday’s voting to secure the position, George Amatey Lawer, Assembly Member for Akotoe Electoral Area, said he’s prepared to put his best foot forward in the next poll to garner the required result to enable him to assume the position of PM.
He bemoaned the high number of rejected ballots and appealed to his colleagues to make sure that the right thing is done in future voting processes to ensure that a Presiding Member is duly elected to facilitate the development of the LMKMA.
“We’re all privy to the right voting process, so those who deliberately spoiled their ballot papers have reasons for their actions, so I appeal to my colleagues to vote responsibly for the development of the Assembly,” he said.
Assembly Member for Kpong-Ahundjo, Raymond Gborson, on his part, expressed surprise at the outcome of the process, adding that the assembly had a record of similar outcomes in previous PM elections.
He similarly bemoaned the high number of rejected ballots recorded in the polls, adding that he had a lot of work to do ahead of the next election.
Another round of voting is expected to take place in ten days to elect a PM for the assembly.
