Klottey Korley NDC conference disrupted



Some angry members of the concerned group (dressed in the party shirts and with red bands on) trying to deal with one of the thugs (one in the Batakari) for disrupting the conference.

 A press conference organised by a group of concerned National Democratic Congress (NDC) members in the Klottey Korley Constituency in Accra was disrupted when thugs invaded the venue and caused commotion.
Before the conference, members of the concerned group, dressed up in the colours of the party with red bands on their arms and heads, were chanting war songs in the Ga language.
Their beef was that they would not allow Nii Armah Ashietey,  the Member of Parliament (MP)­­ for the constituency, who  is also the Greater Accra Regional Minister, to represent the constituency in this year’s election.
Just a minute after a member of the concerned group, Ms Eklima Mohammed-Rasheed, began reading a statement that catalogued their grievances, a number of  macho men arrived at the venue, stood in front of the gathering and began raising empty chairs and shaking the canopy under which the leaders of the group were sitting.
The macho men, who according to some members of the group, were allegedly hired by Nii  Ashietey, told journalists that they were also members of the party, and were not happy about the press conference. They, therefore, wanted it cancelled but their claim was disputed by the gathering.
The intervention of the police, however, calmed the situation. Upon seeing the police, the well-built men took to their heels, attracting jeers and boos from the concerned members of the NDC.
An executive member of the concerned NDC group, Mr Richmond Dizzy Quaye, briefing journalists at the event, stated that Nii Ashietey, after his election as MP and subsequent appointment as the Regional Minister neglected his duties as MP, and only focused on his ministerial duties.
According to Mr Quaye, Nii Ashietey did many things that violated the party’s constitution.
After order was restored,  Ms Mohammed-Rasheed, read the statement which indicated that Nii Ashietey had removed some of his hardworking executives from their positions and was manipulating the system to his advantage.
She stated that the Greater Accra Regional Minister  used fully armed policemen and women to intimidate delegates who he suspected were not on his side, and “coined teams”; ‘TEAM A’ for his supposed loyal supporters, and ‘TEAM B’ for his imaginary enemies.
According to her, anyone who dared to challenge the presence of the police and army personnel at the party’s wards elections was brutalised,while some were  arrested and sent to the Greater Accra Regional Police Headquarters.
She alleged that the MP, with the assistance of his four henchmen: Mash Turkson, the Constituency Secretary; Organiser, Maxwell Mingle; Vice-Secretary; Solomon Addo, and his own nephew, Randy Kpakpo Fairbranks, devised a plan to eliminate all the Ward Coordinators in the seven wards of the constituency.
That, according to the concerned members, was because they were in charge of all the branches, and since the MP and his men found out that they (the coordinators) would not support them to rig the constituency’s executive elections, they wanted them removed at all cost hence the use of the police and soldiers.
Ms Mohammed-Rasheed noted that the insistence of the MP to conduct ward elections was not supported by the party’s constitution and cited Article 15 of the NDC Constitution, which states that the chairmen, secretaries and organisers of branch executives within a given polling division shall constitute the ward committee. The ward committee shall appoint a Ward Coordinator for the ward within the membership of the ward committee and that the ward committee shall be responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the branches and the decisions of the National Congress.
She said in spite of petitions to the party’s national executive and the Regional Chairman, Mr Kobina Ade Coker,  to notify them of the irregularities in their branch elections, “no steps were taken to ensure that the due process was followed, although feverish preparations were being made for the constituency elections.”
They also noted that eight executives who filed their nominations and paid the stipulated fees with the intention of contesting various positions were not informed of the date and venue for elections, neither were they given the delegates list as required by the National Executive Committee ( NEC) guidelines.
Additionally, they claimed that the  release of the delegates list for the upcoming constituency primaries had been delayed deliberately, while signatures on the list which was released yesterday (Wednesday) were forged, since several names had the same signature.
They, therefore, appealed to the appellate authorities of the party to address their grievances, saying, “The watch is tickling, the electorates have proclaimed their decision to cause harm and spell doom for the party if Hon Nii Armah Ashietey is to win the primaries. As we speak, we do not even know where the primaries will take place,” she said.