TAMALE COURT HALT VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE (PAGE 14)

THE Attorney-General’s Department in Tamale on Thursday filed a motion for interlocutory injunction at the Tamale High Court restraining the 26 assembly members of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) from holding any meeting for the purpose of passing a no confidence vote on the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Mohammed Amin Adam Anta.
This followed an earlier writ filed for a perpetual injunction order on the matter at the court last Wednesday.
The State Attorney, Mr Solomon Atadze, explained that as a result of the motion, the members could not hold any meeting on the issue until the case was determined by the court on a later date.
The members had entreated the Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Abdul-Hanan Gundadow, to convene an emergency meeting to that effect on Monday, June 23, this year.
In a resolution signed by 26 out of the 78 members of the assembly after an assembly meeting last week, they threatened to pass a vote of no confidence in the chief executive for alleged non-performance and lack of co-operation with the members on matters concerning the metropolis.
When contacted, Mr Gundadow confirmed receiving the writ of summons from the court on Wednesday seeking to restrict the members from holding the said meeting.
He, however, insisted that even though they would respect the decision of the court, “we would eventually hold a meeting at the appropriate time”.
The undersigned assembly members further explained that the reasons for their action included the failure by the MCE to complete some Common Fund-sponsored projects approved for last year and the alleged use of the assembly’s funds to travel without approval.
They also claimed that the MCE was not accessible and that he refused to answer calls from the members on pertinent issues concerning the development of the metropolis.
The members again alleged that it was the incompetence of the chief executive that led to the inability of the assembly to be included in the Youth in Agriculture Programme, a module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
In his response at a press conference at his office last Friday, Mr Anta debunked all the charges levelled against him.
“I do not think that the points raised in the resolutions are issues of misconduct, neither have I put the name of the Assembly into disrepute to warrant my removal,” he stated.
The chief executive explained that such an action should begin with a petition and that it only became a resolution after a vote was conducted on it.
“You need to copy the chief executive and give him a hearing through a committee of the assembly after which a resolution is then passed and the vote of no confidence follows,” the MCE said.
“I want to state that I have not received a copy of any petition, I have not been given hearing and I was neither given notice about the emergency meeting that passed the resolution nor invited to attend as has always been done,” Mr Anta added.
He said as representatives of the people, the assembly members were supposed to exercise their power responsibly and not bring the running of the assembly to a halt.