Thirteen Disqualified DCE Applicants Cry Foul

Thirteen disqualified applicants vying for the position of the District Chief Executive (DCE) in the Chiana-Paga District have petitioned the national executive of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to cancel the criteria used by the constituency executive in the selection process.

They have, therefore, called for a rerun of the vetting process or risk the wrath of party activists in the constituency.

According to them, the constituency executive went contrary to the directives given by the national executive in vetting all the applicants.

Eighteen applicants filed for the position of DCE in the Chiana-Paga District, out of which five were shortlisted at the constituency level for onward submission to the regional level for further vetting to prune the number to three, to be forwarded to the national level for the final appointment.

Constituency executive

In an interview with Citi News in Paga, the disqualified applicants said the 16-member constituency executive committee led by Chairman Sylvester Amoah did not follow the prescribed vetting process.

They accused a former Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Leo Kabah, and the Constituency Chairman, Mr Sylvester Amoah, of inducing other members of the committee to adopt an arbitrary and defective selection procedure aimed at disqualifying them.

They thus want the process declared null and void for a proper vetting of all the 18 applicants.

One of the disqualified applicants, Mr Adam Mahmud, said the guidelines issued by the acting General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu, indicated that all applicants vying for the MMDCEs position should be vetted through interviews in respect of applicants’ loyalty and their contributions to the party’s development, but this was not adhered to by the constituency executive.

“Why would I apply to become a DCE and you would not invite me for an interview, and the next thing is that I travel from Accra to Paga waiting to be interviewed and all of a sudden I hear that constituency executives held a meeting and voted to disqualify me. We are calling on the National Executive and President Nana Addo to cancel this dubious vetting done. It should be done properly otherwise there will not be peace in Chiana-Paga.”

Asene-Manso-Akroso Constituency

In another development, an applicant for the post of Municipal Chief Executive for Birim Central, Mr Samuel Kyei-Boateng, a former Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, who felt cheated by the Asene-Manso-Akroso Constitiuency Vetting Committee, has also petitioned the National Secretariat of the NPP to reconsider his case and include him in those shortlisted for selection by the President.

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