The West Akyem Municipal Assembly on Thursday elected Mr Kenneth Francis Teye, a 43-year-old farmer, as its new Presiding Member. Mr Teye was challenged by the out- going presiding member, Mr Daniel Safori Owusu, but three rounds of voting failed to produce an outright winner. In the first round, Mr Teye polled 40 as against 22 by Mr Owusu, with the second round recording 42 for Mr Teye and again 22 for Mr Owusu and in the third round; Mr Teye had 46 votes against Mr Owusu’s 19. Since 48 members were required to vote in favour of the winning candidate, the meeting was adjourned for 10 minutes for consultation. When the assembly re-conveyed, Mr Owusu announced that, he was stepping down, thus paving the way for Mr Teye to stand as the sole candidate. He then polled 62 votes to win the seat with two members voting against him and one ballot rejected. Mr Teye thanked members for their support and praised Mr Owusu for showing maturity in stepping down. He called for unity and co-operation among members in order to move the assembly forward. The presiding member elect was then sworn into office by the Asamankese District Magistrate, Mr Ansah Awuah. Source: GNA