Anita’s Victims Cry Out

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Monday, 06 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
FOUR persons who were injured when the vehicle of Anita De-Souza, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Women’s Organiser, ran into them in the heat of the recent bye-election in the Atiwa constituency have spoken to DAILY GUIDE about their tortuous ordeal.

This was when the paper visited them at the Enyiresi Government Hospital to obtain first-hand information of what they recall about the incident.

The four are 18-year-old Isaac Agyemang Duah, a student of the Koforidua Senior High School, 40-year-old Ebenezer Adomako aka Kwasi Willie, a farmer, 38-year-old George Abu, also a farmer and 20-year-old Seth Ampofo.

They gave their accounts of how the ash-coloured Toyota Prado 4 wheel drive with registration number GE 5440-10 maimed them.

The vehicle, at the time of the incident, was said to be driven by a certain Akwasi Ernest, who is yet to report to the police.

At the time of the visit, some family members and New Patriotic Party (NPP), faithful led by the Eastern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Dr. Samuel Annor, had gone to visit the victims and presented some items to them.

Isaac was at home listening to radio, Oman FM, when he heard that the voter turnout at the Presby Junior High School polling station was very low.

He therefore informed the NPP treasurer in Abomosu, one Mr. Oboubi about what he had heard and told him he knew some old women including his grandmother in the area who might not be able to walk to the polling station so they could organize a car to convey them to the polling station, which he agreed to do.

On their way back from seeing the old women, Isaac narrated that Obuobi had a call from his son, one Agyepong that some NDC members (Azorka Boys) had come to steal ballot boxes at the polling center.

ImageAt this point, he said they parted ways since Mr. Obuobi told him he was going to make arrangements for a vehicle to go and pick up the old women to enable them to vote.

Isaac said he proceeded to the area where the supposed Azorka Boys were reported to be causing mayhem.

In the heat of events, he said one Kofi Akuoko and several other people were butchered with machetes and clubs, with blood oozing all over their bodies.

Just as he and some of the bystanders were about to flee from the wrath of the thugs, Isaac said the only thing he could recall was a vehicle running over them.

Isaac said the next thing he realized when he opened his eyes was that he was on a hospital bed at the emergency ward.

Since the incident happened within seconds, Isaac said he could not see the vehicle and that even if he did, the excruciating pain he was going through was enough to make him forget how it looked like.

He admitted there was a roadblock in the middle of the road in front of Mona Palace where the incident occurred but could not tell whether it was mounted by the townsfolk or the police since there were policemen also there.

On his part, Ebenezer Adomako aka Kwasi Willie, said he and some other friends were there when some NDC thugs attempted to steal the ballot box.

According to him, a heated exchange ensued between them and the thugs and in the process, the thugs slashed a certain young man’s head.

This angered the townsfolk since they could not comprehend the action of the thugs.

In the heat of the argument, he said, a vehicle which he later got to know was owned by the National Women’s Organizer of the NDC ran into them, with his right thumb virtually splitting apart whilst the vehicle ran over some of the boys.

George Abu claimed that he was on his way home after going to cast his vote when he heard a friend shout out his name.

Image
Seth Ampofo
As he turned around, he was hit by the vehicle and fell unconscious before he was taken to the hospital.

According to him, he was surprised and angry at the spin being put on the entire story since some individuals had come to interview him and his other colleagues and were asking them to lie that they were knocked down by an articulated truck.

Seth Ampofo could not tell his story since the pain he was going through did not allow him to speak.

When this paper visited the hospital, Ampofo’s wounds were being dressed.

The anguish, wailings and screams of the patient sent chills through the ward, and the DAILY GUIDE team, unable to stand the pain, packed their tape recorders, cameras and notebooks and slipped out of the ward.

Not even the consolation of his attendant nurses could stop the wailing and pain that he felt.

He cried like a baby while invoking curses on whoever might have caused him this predicament.

Meanwhile, some residents of the area have corroborated the stories of the victims and have confirmed the colour and number of the vehicle which ran through them, which is no different from what has already been put out as an ash Toyota Prado with registration number GE 5440-10.

Alan Party’ Shot Down

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 03 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Even before it established itself as a recognised political force in the country, issues have started popping up about the credibility of the so-called United Front Party (UFP).

The intention behind its formation was exposed yesterday when the founder of the party, Kwasi Addae, could not even tell the motto of his party.

This was when he spoke on Adom FM’s morning show concerning unfolding developments about the new party.

Kwasi Addae is the owner of Odike ventures, a shoe trading company which has branches in Kumasi and Accra.

He could also not tell the logo of his party which he claimed to have a membership that cuts across the political divides.

Addae admitted to have been a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and lately a New Patriotic Party (NPP) member.

Even though he admitted that the Electoral Commission (EC) had asked him and his cohort to revise their party colours since it had some semblance with that of the NPP, he could also not give the new colours, asking that he be given time to go to the office to confirm that.

This therefore raised doubts about the credibility of the party and its founders, considering the vile efforts being employed to link it to Alan Kyerematen, even though he has not only denounced the speculation but has also declared his unflinching support for the NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo.

With the exception of Mr Addae, the founder of the party, who has come out openly to defend it, all other persons who have been linked to it have disassociated themselves from the party.

Chief among them was J.K Owusu-Boakye aka Albito, the man who was speculated to be the general secretary of the party. He has completely denied his involvement in the party.

Albito, who used to be part of Alan Kyerematen’s campaign team in the Ashanti region during the NPP presidential primary, could not conceive how he was named as part of the supposed disgruntled Alan supporters who have decided to leave the NPP to form their own party since according to him, he has not thought of any such thing.

Though he supported Alan’s campaign, Mr Owusu-Boakye said after the election of Nana Addo as the NPP presidential candidate, they decided to bury their differences and throw their weight behind him, stressing that his allegiance was to the NPP and not any individual in the party.

For this reason, he said they have since been working to secure victory for Nana Addo and the NPP in the 2012.

Another person who has also distanced himself from the UFP is Kumasi-based businessman Joseph Amoah, former Co-ordinator for Alan Kyerematen’s campaign team in the Central region, who was also speculated to be the chairman of the party.

In separate accounts, they narrated that just after the NPP primary, Alan himself who contested but lost the flagbearership to Nana Addo asked them and all other persons who supported his presidential bid to throw their weight behind Nana Addo.

They therefore could not understand why any individual or group of persons would concoct stories to cause confusion in the NPP, especially when no such thing exists.

NPP General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie has condemned calls by a newspaper for Alan Kyerematen to distance himself from the new party.

A statement issued under his hand yesterday described these speculations and Alan’s supposed involvement in the UFP as completely untrue.

He noted that “the leadership of the New Patriotic Party has noted the unsuccessful attempt by our political opponents and their partners in the media to create some impression that the followers of Mr Alan Kyerematen have defected from the party to form a new party.”

This, he said, was because “all the unsuccessful aspirants in the August 7 congress (including Mr Kyerematen) have committed themselves by word and by their actions to the success of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP in the 2012 general elections”, indicating that the NPP would go into the next elections more united than ever.

He recalled that prior to the party’s recent presidential primary, some of their political opponents, especially the NDC and their media accomplices, suggested that the NPP was likely to break up after the congress.

Though nothing of that sort happened, he noted that the NDC and its agents were not moving from their malicious ways as they continued to peddle false information that followers of Alan Kyerematen were planning a defection from the NPP.

Whilst he admitted that any Ghanaian had the liberty to form a new political party, the General Secretary said “it is completely dishonest for anybody to suggest that any rumour or any formation of a new political party must be a defection from the NPP.”

The NPP has accordingly asked the newspaper to retract that false story and its call on Mr Kyerematen to dissociate himself from anything.

The party also had a word of advice for the NDC and its proxies in the media: “Instead of dedicating so much time planning defection fabrications about the NPP, they should dedicate the time planning measures to honour their many failed promises.”

It added, “They should spend time doing something about the worsening conditions of living in the country.”

Mayhem At Atiwa

Posted: Daily Guide | www.dailyguideghana.com
Thursday, 02 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The events that characterised the just-ended Atiwa bye-election have sent worrying signals to several Ghanaians, especially the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) who are raising concerns about acts of atrocities perpetrated by elements of the ruling party in recent polls.

The NPP is not sure the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in a peaceful atmosphere considering the manner in which the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) used intimidation to contest the recent elections, with the police looking on helplessly.

It said it could not understand the brutality that was visited on members of the NPP in Atiwa, Akwatia and Chereponi by the NDC and its assigns.

With police’s failure to protect them, the youth in Atiwa on Tuesday mounted road blocks to prevent attacks inflicted on them.

At Abomosu, the NDC Women’s Organiser Anita De-Souza’s Toyota Prado vehicle crushed several people at a road block in the full glare of policemen, after some hoodlums imported by the NDC had assaulted residents.

Even though Anita denied running over some residents who are in critical condition at various health facilities in the region, with some nursing broken limps and peeled skins among other bodily harms, reports have been made at the Abomosu Police who confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that three cases of violence were reported to them by three people.

According to the police, Kofi Bremang, who arrived at the police station with blood all over his body, complained that he was beaten and hit with clubs by suspected NDC goons.

The NDC ‘Sese’ Group, headed by a certain Polo, confirmed on Oman FM that he had led his boys to the constituency on the day of the bye-election.

Polo, who described the group as a very dangerous one, said they were funded by some key people in the party as well as businessmen.

Kofi Gyampo, Abuakwa South constituency chairman of the party, was also attacked by the hoodlums at a settler community near Asunafo where he was a polling agent.

Complaint about Anita’s 4×4 car running over some youth was reported at the police station by Evans Adjei-Mensah.

A statement issued by NPP General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie yesterday said “the implications of such negative signals even ahead of 2012 for the economy and the country as a whole are obvious” since “the recurring failure of state security to protect these bye-elections poses a frightening threat to our democracy”.

The NPP scribe asked President Atta Mills, Minister for the Interior and Inspector General of Police to explain this failure.

The party said what are being presented as ordinary security lapses “are indeed a deliberate strategy to intimidate political opponents and give electoral advantage to the ruling NDC”.

For him, the inability of the country’s security agencies to provide adequate security in the Atiwa elections should be a great worry to each and every Ghanaian since he could not fathom why the election recorded the same security failures that occurred during the Akwatia and Chereponi bye-elections.

“Under this administration, armed policemen looked on unconcerned while organised thugs, wielding arms and other dangerous weapons, attacked innocent people at will.”

Sir John, as the NPP scribe is affectionately called, said “the persistent excuse given by such well armed but indifferent security personnel that they are unable to act because they have not received instruction to do so is, to say the least, ridiculous!”

He asked: “What is the use of security presence if the personnel would look on unconcerned while armed thugs assault innocent voters and scare off others?”

The NPP does not rule out the complicity of senior elements in the security agencies, since according to its General Secretary, “it is obvious that police personnel sent to election premises are instructed not to act without specific command from above while thugs are encouraged to intimidate political opponents and their sympathisers”.

Unless these threatening developments are addressed by government, “the country stands the danger of violent elections in 2012 when 230 constituencies (not one constituency) will need state security.”

The NPP therefore asked government to explain these security failures and the measures being taken to ensure that they would not happen again especially during the 2012 elections.

Pollster and editor-in-chief of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson shares a similar view since he also believes that the events that characterised the Atiwa bye-elections could be repeated in 2012 if adequate measures are not put in place to forestall any such unhealthy occurrences.

He said, “These are signs we must work towards... we shouldn’t always think that God will always be a Ghanaian. God can decide to shift his attention to another country.”

This, according to him, is because “He (God) has done enough for us and we have to be innovative and find out ways of preventing it.”

He had a message for the so-called foot-soldiers who are often used by politicians to perpetrate some of these dastardly acts against their fellow human beings for paltry monetary benefits:

“If somebody tells you that, ‘look, get this money and let’s go and show we have macho, we have this or that’, you should tell that politician to bring the daughter or the son to accompany you to do the violence and see whether he will bring the relative to accompany you to do the violent act.”

But the Member of Parliament for Okere, Dan Botwe says if he were the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), he would resign (over the issue).

Speaking on Joy FM, he said, “You had policemen on the ground, you had the topmost police people there, and there was mayhem.

People were holding guns, beating people openly and they openly and freely did it in the daytime. …the police were there, our cars were smashed, the police were standing by helplessly.”