MMDCE confirmation: Don’t punish Sam Pyne over KMA debt, says Akufo-Addo

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has asked members of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to approve the chief executive nominee without any strings attached.

Appealing to the assembly members, Akufo-Addo said his nominee Sam Pyne should not be made a victim of the past.

Pyne faces possible rejection by the assembly members in Kumasi over the government’s unpaid debt of GHC50million. The confirmation ceremony is scheduled to come off on Tuesday (5 October).

“Is he the one who incurred the costs?” Akufo-Addo quizzed, adding it is unfair to make a scapegoat of the nominee.

“If he was the one who incurred the cost, then that is okay, but you want him to be a victim of the past? I don’t think that is fair, so I will plead with the assembly to look at what he (Sam Pyne) can do and endorse him.

“I don’t see why they are going to hold up Kumasi getting a proper executive because of the past. I don’t think that is fair, and that is not the way we should go about it. I think what they need to get from him right from the beginning when he comes to them is the commitment to pay the debt, that will be the proper way to go, if they feel he is worthy of confirmation, let them confirm him,” Akufo-Addo stressed in an interview with Kumasi-based Pure FM.

He said a comprehensive report of the debt has been requested by the Office of the President.

“I have asked the Local Government Minister to look into it and give me a proper brief, because on many occasions, in the energy sector, in the railway sector and several others, the figures in the so called debts do not add up, and so I want us to look into it properly and check the genuineness of the debt, then, we can see how best to go about it.”

So far, about five MMDCE nominees have been rejected in various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.

Meanwhile, in the face of the rejections, the President has said election of MMDCEs still remain his best choice for democracy.

“Electing MMDCEs will be a better way to go and I have not changed my mind on that, now that we have settled down, we will sit again over this issue with the minority in Parliament and the opposition party. I am still committed to it and it still remains the best solution,” he said.