Assembly members of the Ada East District Assembly have failed to elect a Presiding Member (PM) for the fourth time. An assembly meeting was convened for the fourth time on Wednesday, July 24, for the 39 assembly members to elect a presiding member after some 23 concerned elected assembly members petitioned the District Coordinating Director (DCD) to summon the meeting to facilitate the election. The District Assembly cannot convene any committee meeting until a PM is elected. Mr. Mark Nii Adjei Sowah, assembly member for the Foah Wem Electoral Area, was the only nominee for the position and needed to be confirmed by at least 28 assembly members out of the 39 elected and government appointees. The first round of voting saw 21 assembly members voting Yes and 15 No, with three assembly members absent; one of the assembly members, however, left the meeting angrily due to the failure to get the needed yes votes. After a second round of voting, 21 voted Yes, while 14 voted No. Mr. Jerryson Ayih, the DCD, ask ed for the adjournment of sitting for the next election to be reconvened within the 10-day mandated period by the Local Government Act. Mr. Mark Nii Adjei Sowah told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he was not surprised by the results, even though a majority of the assembly members met and agreed that the absence of a presiding member was delaying the development of the district. 'I only want to appeal to my colleagues to consider the progress and development of our electoral areas and the district at large,' he said. Source: Ghana News Agency