Confusion rocks Ho Municpal Assembly meeting
There was confusion at a general meeting of the Ho Municipal Assembly last Wednesday, as some Assembly Members accused the Chief Executive, Mrs Fafa Adinyira and the management of engaging in illegalities.
Advertisement
The meeting which was characterised with heated exchanges saw some Assembly Members accusing the management of taking several unilateral decisions, which has ended up creating problems for the Assembly.
They accused the MCE and management of awarding contracts without referring it to members for critical scrutiny and approval as required by law.
They specifically mentioned the award of a contract to a consulting company called WISDAF Limited, to collect market tolls without approval from Assembly Members, the allocation of stalls to management members and a contract awarded to Zoomlion.
With regards to WISDAF Limited, the Assembly Members said they have information that the company has allegedly defrauded the assembly to the tune of GhȻ87, 000.
They claimed WISDAF was contracted to purchase a piece of land at Sokode Daglama on behalf of the assembly for the construction of a new assembly complex.
The assembly then made payment of GhȻ87, 000 to the landowners through WISDAF but could not obtain legal ownership documents of the land.
Cheque bounced
In an effort to retrieve the money from the landowners, WISDAF reportedly issued a cheque for GhȻ50,000 to the assembly which was dishonoured when it was presented to the bank, according to the Assembly Members.
Other Trending Stories
This case the Assembly Members claim has been pending in court since 2012 with an injunction placed on any further payments.
They said it was surprising that while the case still pending, management has gone ahead to award another contract to the same consultant, WISDAF to collect market tolls.
Describing the action as illegal and a breach of the guiding principles of the assembly, the Assembly Members called for transparency and asked that the latest contract to WISDAF should be referred to the executive committee for critical scrutiny before approval.
Management Rents Stalls among themselves
Two other issues that came up in the course of the exchanges was a contract signed between the Assembly and Zoomlion as well as the the allocation of stalls to occupants at the Civic centre shopping mall.
The Assembly members said there were complaints and allegations that the stalls were being rented at exorbitant prices instead of the agreed amount of GhȻ 120, so a committee was subsequently set up to investigate the matter and find out the list of occupancy.
However, when the committee contacted the registry for the list, they were informed that the list could not be found.
Later when discussions on the issue became tensed, the presiding member (PM), Mr Yao Semordey hinted that he saw the list and that it contained names of management members and one Assembly Member.
The members then requested that the list should be made available for the committee to investigate the allegations.
Contributing to the discussions, the municipal co-ordinating director, Mr. Edward Gidiglo said they rather had the records of all applicants but not the list of the occupants.
Zoomlion Contract
The members also demanded for the details of the contract signed between the assembly and Zoomlion so as to be able to monitor their operation.
Management however explained that the decision to award the contract was taken by the Ministry of Local Government and therefore was not subject to individual members’ perusal.
Argument between MCE and PM
In the course of the heated debate, one of the assembly members asked the presiding member, Mr Yao Semodey, ”to put more sense into their head because it appeared some people were thinking about their stomach and not the welfare of the people.”
Advertisement
The MCE, Mrs Adinyira who expressed her anger over the said statement blamed the presiding member for allowing such bad comments to be passed without calling the member to order.
The Presiding Member on his part took offence of the MCE’s statement and cautioned her MCE to observe meeting rules and regulations by not shouting at him as he was on top of issues.
As the arguments became more heated, the chief of Abutia-Kpota, Togbe Tsali IV, stepped in to cool tempers.
He entreated them to respect each other’s concerns so as to be able accelerate development in the municipality.
Advertisement