There is wrangling among members of the Ho Municipal Assembly over the exclusion of the photograph of Mr Benjamin Kpodo, Ho-Central Member of Parliament (MP), from the Assembly’s 2014 calendar.
It is the first time ever that an MP is not captured in the Assemblies calendar.
Mr Innocent Kodzo Dey, Assembly-Member, Ho-Dome (Blisam), said he had been in the Assembly for the past 12 years and could not comprehend the situation of the MP for the area omitted from the Assembly’s calendar.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Friday that personalities prominently featured on the calendars over the years were the Municipal Chief Executives (MCE), MPs and the Regional Ministers and pictures of development projects.
Mr Dey said it was therefore strange to have a calendar now, without the MP, “a situation which is intolerable”.
He agreed when asked if the omission could be deliberate, linking it with some “unfounded” rumours, that Mr Kpodo was behind the current tango in the Assembly over procedural issues.
Mr Dey said the grievous anomaly could even be a deliberate and strategic act to blot out Mr Kpodo from public view.
He said many Assembly Members realizing the “incongruity,” refused to collect the calendars.
Mr Dey said the current membership of the Ho Municipal Assembly made it one of the most progressive in the country and that “it cannot be stampeded”.
He said if in the past contract management was lackadaisical “that cannot happen now”.
When contacted Mr Semordey said the calendar was stirring disgust among members who think the omission was in bad taste.
He said the template for calendars printed by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District (MMDAs) across the country had MPs on them and that what happened in the case of the Ho Assembly was strange.
When contacted Mr Edward Gidiglo, Municipal Coordinating Director, said he had not seen the calendar but had heard the MP’s image was not captured.
He said it was an anomaly, against good practice, but dismissed the suggestion that it was deliberate.
Mr Gidiglo said he asked to see the final makeup of the calendar before printing but his request was not met.
He said pressure on the team that worked on the calendar might have led to the omission of the MPs image.
The four-leaf calendar released a few days ago has images of President John Mahama, Mr Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, Regional Minister and Mrs Fafa Adinyira, the Municipal Chief Executive, on the front page.
Images of Mrs Adinyira, Mr Gidiglo, MCD, and Yao Semorde, Municipal Presiding Member (PM) are on the second page.
The third and fourth pages have pictures of projects, courtesy calls, Assembly Members and the Management Team of the Assembly.