YENDI ASSEMBLY CONFIRMS NOMINEE (PAGE 15)

MAJORITY of members of the Yendi Municipal Assembly have confirmed Mr Mahama Walvis Hudu as the new Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the assembly at a meeting in Yendi on Tuesday.
Fifty-seven of the members representing 93.4 per cent of the 61-member House voted in favour of the 52-year-old MCE who is a development worker and youth activist while two members voted against his nomination with two rejected ballots.
The assembly also elected Mr Iddrisu Hussein, a teacher as its new Presiding Member (PM).
The voting and subsequent confirmation of both the MCE and the PM by the House was done in an atmosphere of peace and harmony at the Yendi Community Centre conference hall which was witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd.
Mr Hussein for his part, polled 47 votes to beat his contender Mr Suleman Habib who had 14 votes. The third person in the race, Mr Adam Alhassan had earlier on stepped down.
The Circuit Court Judge, Mr George Krofa Addae, subsequently swore the PM into office.
The election was supervised by the Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Sylvester Kanyi.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Hudu expressed gratitude to the traditional authorities, residents of the area and assembly members for the confidence reposed in him.
“I see this position as a challenge and my major preoccupation will be to unite the people for the accelerated development of the area; leadership is not about lording it over people” the new MCE observed.
He equally pledged to liaise with development partners in the municipality to promote peace and create more jobs for the youth.
The new PM for his part, promised to unite members of the House no matter their political affiliation to move business in the assembly forward.
He however entreated the members to bring their expertise to bear on the activities of the House.
“Let us eschew rumours and mistrust and rather focus on how best to make life bearable for our people” Mr Hussein advised.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina noted that the peaceful manner in which the confirmation was done was a clear manifestation of the “political maturity” exhibited by the assembly members.
“We have proved to the whole world that there is unity in diversity and Yendi is a civilised area” he noted.