ASUOGYAMAN, YILO KROBO CONFIRM DCEs (PAGE 14)

ASSEMBLY members of the Asuogyaman and Yilo Krobo districts of the Eastern Region have confirmed the two men nominated by the President for the position of Chief Executive for the political entities in the region.
They are Mr Johnson Kwaku Ahiator for Asuogyaman and Mr Andrew Soda for Yilo Krobo.
At Atimpoku, the district capital of Asuogyaman where the assembly members cast their ballot, Mr Ahiator, 48, an accountant at the Koforidua Office of the West African Examinations Council, polled 28 votes out of 44 valid votes cast, representing 66.7 per cent of the total votes to get the nod.
The Yilo Krobo assembly members at its meeting at Somanya, the district capital, also gave their approval for Mr Soda, a Credit Manager of the Upper Manya Krobo Rural Bank, with 47 of the 49 valid votes cast representing 95 per cent of the votes.
With their confirmations, the two DCEs have now become the first out of the 144 persons nominated for the post of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to be approved.
The elections which was conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC) and watched by the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and the two members of Parliament in the two areas were generally peaceful.
In their acceptance speeches, Messrs Ahiator and Soda, were grateful to the members of the two assemblies for the confidence reposed in them and called for unity to ensure the rapid socio-economic development of the two districts.
“If we are to see any meaningful progress as districts, we must be prepared to put behind us petty squabbles that have divided our ranks in the past and forge ahead in unity to move forward the development of our districts,” they stated.
They also thanked the President for the honour done them and expressed their preparedness to help execute government’s development agenda in their respective districts. 
Prior to the elections, Mr Ofosu Ampofo made it clear that since decentralisation was key to the progress of every district, assembly members should bury their differences and vote for the President’s nominees to accelerate the development of the two districts.