Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan Botwe, says individuals who object to the list of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) appointment had no basis to hit the streets to cause chaos in the country.

According to the minister, the President has the legal backing to either accept or reject any person recommended by the Selection Committee for the MMDCE role.

Interacting with Evans Mensah on JoyNews' PM Express, Mr Dan Botwe explained that the incumbent government during its first administration in 2017 appointed individuals who were neither recommended nor showed up for vetting but were competent as MMDCEs, hence describing the ruckus as needless.

"Why are we even making an issue out of this. That the President sets up a committee to do some work and advice him, they bring the report and the President decides to appoint different people and it is an issue?

"A government sets up a high-powered committee, they bring their work, government issues a white paper accepting some of the recommendations and rejecting some and it is done. So what is strange about the fact that the President sets up a committee internally to advise him, not bound by any statutory injunction. He does it for his personal education for him to make a decision. It happened in 2017. There are others who never submitted themselves to the process but they were appointed and so let's not make it an issue.

"It absolutely has no basis at all. That because somebody came for an interview and he was shortlisted, came to the National level, the Committee recommended that you should be given the position, the President says 'no, I take the final decision. I think it should be somebody else' and you think it is a justification for anybody to misbehave, absolutely not," he said on Monday.

His comments come in response to opposition by some members of the general public to the list of appointed MMDCEs yet to be confirmed.

Some supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Chereponi and East Mamprusi Districts of the North East region went on a rampage and vandalised party property.

Prior to the release, the youth of Odododiodoo and Bukom in the Greater Accra Region also took to the streets to protest the alleged removal of the current Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah from office.

The residents were seen with red armbands and headgear demonstrating and calling on the President to maintain Mr Sowah as the Accra Metropolitan Assembly boss and not the recommended Elizabeth Sackey, the former Deputy Minister of the Greater Accra Region.

On the show, Mr Dan Botwe further revealed that a consensus was reached between government and the applicants that the final decision of their appointment lies on the President.

The information he said was well understood and welcomed by all applicants.

"All those who appeared before these committees left with the understanding that they are just putting themselves up and the final decision lies with the President. They all had that understanding that the President is not bound even to select someone amongst them."

"None of them can come out and say they didn't have that understanding," he insisted.

On September 19, government through the Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan Botwe released the list of nominees for the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) positions.

Out of the 260 nominees, 38 are females whiles 222 are males.

The substantive minister in a press briefing on Sunday afternoon noted that Regional Directors of the Electoral Commission will get in touch with the Presiding Members of the various Assemblies and start the process of confirming the President’s nominees.

Meanwhile, the Police Service has arrested four residents in Odododiodoo for leading the protest in the constituency over the alleged removal of Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah from office.

The four; Salaami Bukari, 36, Daniel Opare Oman, 43, Edward Holm, 38, and Daniel Clottey, 41, according to a press statement signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kwesi Ofori, blocked a section of the road in Jamestown by burning tyres on Saturday.