Bosomtwe Assembly Members Petition Mahama to Remove DCE Hamidu Abdallah Over Overspending and DRIP Equipment Abuse.
Assembly Members in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region have petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to remove the District Chief Executive, Hamidu Abdallah, over allegations of persistent overspending and commercialisation of equipment under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
At a press conference, the aggrieved Assembly Members, led by the Assembly Member for Akokofe, Nana Akwasi Asare Nyansapor, said they will push for a vote of no confidence against the DCE if the President fails to act.
The petition has been copied to the Ashanti Regional Minister and the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.
The members say an audit report has exposed excessive administrative expenses, particularly on communication, despite a budgetary provision for laptops to make communication with members cheaper and more efficient.
They questioned why the Assembly continues to spend heavily on printing letters and using vehicles and fuel to distribute them to members across the district when laptops had been budgeted for.
According to the petitioners, the alleged overspending is only one of nine major concerns.
They also accuse the DCE of deliberately obstructing the District Road Improvement Programme.
They claim the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe has pledged to fuel the DRIP machines to work for two days in each electoral area to reshape inner roads in all 67 communities, but the DCE has refused to release the machines for that initiative.
They allege that the same machines are promptly released to private individuals and communities who pay cash, a situation they suspect management is profiting from.
The petition further accuses the DCE of misplaced priorities, citing the renovation and refurnishing of his office, which was not captured in the approved budget, at the expense of streetlights.
Other allegations include failure to brief the Assembly on government’s 10km-per-district road project, frustrating communal self-help projects such as a three-unit classroom block at Amankwaadae, condoning illegal mining until a regional task force seized five excavators in the district, and delays in paying Assembly Members’ allowances.
The petitioners said they gave the DCE and his Coordinating Director a two-week ultimatum to respond to the concerns but they failed to do so.
Reacting to the allegations, the DCE, Hamidu Abdallah, dismissed them as baseless. He stated that none of the allegations merits enough weight to make the President sack him or trigger a vote of no confidence against him, adding that his actions have been geared towards development.
He noted that some of the issues had already been resolved at General Assembly meetings but promised to engage members further.
He also threatened to sue the leader of the petitioners, Nana Akwasi Asare Nyansapor, for defamation, saying the allegations could damage his reputation.
