Assembly members of the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region on Thursday boycotted the first session of the general assembly meeting of the year following confusion over Council of State election cash.
The enraged Assembly members staged a walkout stemming from their belief that they were short-changed during the election period.
They explained that their action was to protest the treatment meted out to the rest of the membership by those selected to vote during the Council of State election in the Region on February 12, this year.
The group accused Mr Emmanuel Ladzi, the Presiding Member, and Mr Samuel Jayon, Assembly member of Ayerumu Electoral Area, of allegedly pocketing the money and denying the rest the opportunity to benefit from the cash.
It was disclosed that the two Assembly members were forced to return the money for each member to benefit. However, while Mr Ladzi obliged, Mr Jayon refused.
Motion
Earlier, Jonas Kwaku Essel, Assembly man of Dambai Lakeside, raised a motion to ascertain the outcome of their demand, which was supported by his colleagues, leading to the abrupt end of proceedings.
The Assembly members therefore petitioned management of the house to resolve the issue amicably before any general assembly meeting could be held.
The Member of Parliament for the area and other heads of departments intervened for the meeting to proceed, but the Assembly members ignored and staged a walkout.
Mr Jayon told the media that he took GH₵15,000.00 while Mr Ladzi had GH₵11,000.00. He said they were instructed to keep GH₵3,000.00 each and make the rest available to membership.
He added that he used the money to take care of the medical bills of his ailing mother, who died eventually.
Mr Ladzi however confirmed to the GNA that he kept the GH₵3,000.000 and returned GH₵9,000.00 as instructed. He said his other colleague was unable to honour his side of the bargain due to the death of his mother.
He said Mr Jayon pleaded with his colleagues to give them till the end of May to honour their liability.
He pleaded with the members to attend the next meeting, at which he believed the issues would be addressed amicably.
Credit: GNA
