A section of the assembly members in the Ho Municipal Assembly have decided not to recognize the Municipal Chief Executive, Mrs. Fafa Adinyirah, because her election into office is not recognized by the constitution.
The Assembly Members, who spoke to The Chronicle on condition of anonymity, said when Mrs. Adinyirah was first nominated by the President, the Assembly voted against her.
According to them, since the nominee failed to get 50% of the valid votes cast, she did not qualify for re-nomination by the president.
Unfortunately, they said Adinyirah was re-nominated by the President, contrary to the Standing Orders of the assembly, and voted upon.
To buttress their point, the Assembly members stated that Section 16; subsections 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the Standing Orders of the Assembly; clearly explained the procedures for confirming the President�s nominee for the position of Chief Executive for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
The Assembly members said they would go to the court for interpretation of Section 16, subsection 10 of the Assembly�s standing orders, which stated that �any nominee of the President, who at any time fails to poll 50 percent of the votes cast by members present and voting, shall be withdrawn by the President, who shall nominate another person for approval by the Assembly.
They said the President�s nominee was rejected outright for the first time because she had only 33 percent of the total votes cast, which was a clear indication that the President should have re-nominated another person, but that was not done and that the current MCE had been imposed on the Assembly.
The Assembly members also expressed concern over the dismissal of all the 14 Government Appointees on the day the MCE was confirmed and reappointed new Assembly Members. To them, the practice did not give meaning to the democratic path Ghana has chosen.
Another issue the Assembly members raised was that Mrs. Adinyirah had taken vital decisions involving contracts, without consulting the relevant Committees. They alleged that the MCE embarked on renovation of her official residence without discussing it with the Assembly.
As a result, 15 of the Assembly Members are calling for an emergency meeting to discuss what they called �the illegal renovation work ongoing at the MCE�s residence and the refurbishment of the Municipal Chief Executive�s office, without consulting the Assembly members and the committees put in place to deal with such issues at the Assembly, such as the Works Committee.
When contacted, Mrs. Adinyirah explained that she consulted the Municipal Engineer about the need to renovate her residence, which the engineer agreed. She did not, however, hear from him again until she saw that the roof of her official residence had been removed.
According to Mrs. Adinyirah, she then told the Engineer to stop work until the project had been discussed at the Assembly level, since it would involve the use of money and such financial expenditure should be properly accounted for.
The MCE explained that to avoid staying in a hotel in Ho and put pressure on the resources of the assembly, she has decided to stay at Ziavi, which is at the outskirt of Ho. Though this is causing her a lot of inconvenience, she has taken it in her strides.
Mrs. Adinyrah, however, assured the Assembly Members that she would ensure prudent use of Assembly�s resources since available resources ought to be put to good use and in the general interest of the people whose desire for development was very high.
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