The General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr John Boadu has appealed to applicants for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive (MMDCE) positions to manage their expectation due to the record number of individuals involved.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is in the process of considering nominees for appointment as MMDCEs.
In the five regions in the north alone, a total of 715 people have applied to be considered for nomination as MMDCEs in 55 districts.
The regions are Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper West and Upper East.
Last week, NPP General Secretary John Boadu, embarked on a three-day working visit of the five Northern regions as part of the process of considering the nominees.
His visit was necessitated by the sheer number of the applications, mainly NPP faithful who applied to be considered as the President’s nominee for the position of MMDCEs.
Mr. Boadu was concerned with the impact of disappointments that may arise as a result of the President picking only 55 out of the 715 who have applied, all of whom have worked in diverse ways over the years for the party, especially to enhance the fortunes of the party.
Speaking to the aspirants, Mr. John Boadu said, “We cannot allow this process and the aftermath of it to derail the gains that have been made in uniting the party ahead of the 2024 general elections and beyond. We all should be mindful of the ramifications and manage our expectations, understanding the principle that what unites us as a party must be greater and bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, differences of birth, wealth, tribal and ethic affiliations.”
A case in point, in the Upper East region where over 237 people have applied to occupy 15 MMDCE positions in the region.
Out of this, 15 are women, with 23 aspiring in Binduri being the highest and the least being Nabdam with 7 aspirants.
Father, mother, son
In the Garu district, a different and worrying scenario where a family consisting of father, son and mother all presented themselves to be considered as the District Chief Executive of Garu district.
Savannah
In the Savannah region, 83 people presented themselves to be considered, out of which 4 were women.
The East Gonja Municipal – Salaga had 19 applicants representing the municipality which is the highest and the West Gonja Municipal – Damongo had 5, which is the lowest in the Savannah region.
Upper West
The General Secretary said that the situation is no different in the Upper West region as 123 individuals have applied. Out of this, 11 are women.
Wa Central and Wa West each has 19 applicants, being the highest and Nandom with one applicant, being the lowest in the Upper West and entire five Northern regions.
Northern
Northern region has 208 applicants with 10 women.
Upper East
Binduri has 23 applicants being the highest.
Nabdam has seven and it is the district with the lowest applicants.
North East
The General Secretary of the NPP who was alarmed said that the North East region has 71 applicants, with six of them being women.
The East Mamprusi Municipal has 18 applicants and the West Mamprusi Municipal, six, representing the Municipalities with the highest and least applicants respectively in the North East Region.
Mr. John Boadu took time to advise all the applicants at the various vetting/ interview centers he visited to remain committed to the party regardless of the outcome of their dreams and aspiration to lead their districts as the President’s representative in their respective Municipal or District Assemblies.
Mr Boadu was however impressed with the quality of personnel who made themselves available to be considered, he was extremely excited to see the kind of committed human resources at the disposal of the President.
He praised the vetting Committee at the various regional centers for their dedication and tireless efforts to help shortlist the applicants for the eventual decision to be made by the President.
