By Joseph Titus Yekeryan
Members of the Bong County Legislative Caucus and the county administration have succumbed to the Bong County Civil Society Network’s quest for the establishment of a county council to spearhead development activities in the county.
The caucus and the local county officials had insisted on having a Project Management Committee, rather than a county council to oversee the county’s development agenda, as prescribed by the Local Government Act of 2018.
The caucus was constrained to back down on its position after the Bong Civil Society Organization (CSO) network returned to the Supreme Court last week for a full trial.
It can be recalled that in May this year, the then Justice-in-Chambers of the Supreme Court, Jamesetta Howard-Wolokolie mandated that the caucus and the county administration work with the CSOs network to constitute the county council in two weeks for the conduct of the next county council sitting.
But the county leadership failed to adhere to the Justice’s mandate, an action that led the CSOs to petition the court for a full bench trial last week.
Following a meeting with the CSOs and some prominent citizens of the county at the weekend, the Chairperson of the Bong Legislative Caucus, Representative Moimah Briggs-Mensah said the caucus has mandated Superintendent Esther Walker to work with the CSOs to establish the county council in two weeks.
Also speaking, two officials of the Bong County CSOs Network, Aaron Fenlah and Aaron Juaquillie said their decision was in the best interest of the county.
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“As Civil Society Actors, what we do always needs to be in the interest of the public,” said Aaron Juaquellie.
“We started this quest, we had sleepless nights moving from here and there until we ended it at the Supreme Court,” he added.
He noted that today, the same thing they have been pushing for has been approved by the Caucus, saying they are happy about that.–Edited by Winston W. Parley
