How To Become An Assemblyman In Ghana

An assemblyman is a person who is a member of a legislative assembly.

Below is How To Become An Assemblyman In Ghana

The assembly shall consist of five assemblymen elected on the first Tuesday in October for a term of three years commencing on the first Monday following the election. 

Qualifications.

A borough resident is eligible to be an assemblyman if he has resided in the borough for at least one year immediately prior to the filing of a nominating petition and is a qualified voter of the borough. 

An assemblyman who ceases to be a borough voter immediately forfeits his office.

Compensation.

The assembly members shall be paid seventy-five dollars per month and an additional sum of seventy-five dollars per day for each authorized assembly meeting, any preauthorized workshop, or board meeting representing the borough, i.e., SAVEC, Camai or SWAMC.

Vacancy–Declared when.

The office of assemblyman is vacated under the following conditions and upon a declaration of vacancy by the assembly. The assembly shall declare an elective office vacant whenever:

A. The person elected to it fails to take office within thirty days after his election;

B.    The officeholder departs from the organized borough with the intent of remaining away for a period of ninety or more days or resides outside the area from which he was elected for a period of ninety or more days unless excused by the assembly;

C.    The officeholder submits his resignation to the assembly and the assembly accepts it;

D.    The officeholder is physically unable to attend assembly meetings and will continue to be physically unable to attend assembly meetings for a period of one hundred eighty or more consecutive days;

E.    The officeholder has been removed from office;

F.    The officeholder misses three or more consecutive regular meetings unless excused by the assembly.

The Role of the Assemblyman in Ghana

The Role of the Assemblyman in Ghana seems to be at the center of conflict between traditional self-help and modern democratic practices. Whatever has been defined by the constitution is simply not enough and we need a thorough definition of the role of the assemblyman and his duties, including sanctions for action or inaction.

The belief that the Assemblyman should raise funds to develop his own area, on his own initiative is based on the guiding principle of voluntarism and communal ways of self-help development which has no place in modern democratic practice.