Jirapa Municipal Assembly fails to elect a Presiding Member.

The Jirapa municipal assembly after being inaugurated failed in the first and second round to elect a presiding member.

Four Assembly members picked and filed nomination forms to seek the mandate of the 54 assembly members as the presiding member for the assembly. They included the Assembly member for Kunchene, Hon. Richard Badombie, Assembly member for Nambeg, Hon. James Dery, Assembly member for Sigri,  Hon Jonas Tankpaa and Assembly member for Ping, Hon Thomas Tengan.

In the first Round, these were the results:
Hon. Richard Badombie--20 votes

Hon. Jonas Tankpaa--19 votes

Hon. James Dery--12 votes

Hon. Thomas Tengan--3 votes

Per the regulations, the third and fourth were dropped and the first and Second candidates went into a round 2 after the two candidates failed to reach a consensus.

In the second Round, Hon. Richard Badombie garned 24 votes while Hon. Jonas also garned 28 votes.
Interestingly, two rejected votes were announced. This announcement made the  attendants of the inaugural ceremony unhappy. They believed those two voters deliberately spoiled their votes in a bid to drag the process of electing a PM.

The Chairman for the occasion, Naa Festus Doodaa Dakurah expressed his sadness over the Assembly's failure to elect a PM. He urged all Assembly members to prioritize the interest of Jirapa and get a PM elected in the next round.

Another Election is expected to be conducted within 10 days for the two candidates.
If none of them fails to secure the 2/3 votes requirement in the second run off, the law enjoins them to  step down for fresh nominees.

Meanwhile, some Ghanaians have questioned the essence of the 2/3 votes requirement to become a PM. They question the law why it allows an MP candidate to be declared a winner with a simple majority but wants a PM elected with a 2/3 votes majority.

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