THE INDEPENDENT

"Missing 100 million cedis tears NDC apart, Obed's faction threatens to pull out", is the banner headline story on the front page of the Independent. The story says as cash-strapped opposition parties ponder over what might be the major deciding factor in the 2000 elections - money, events unfolding in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the richest party, suggest that its wealth could also be a recipe for its doom. According to the Independent, the reported missing of over 100 million cedis at the residence of Dr Obed asamoah, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, has created a wedge between the top hierarchy of the NDC and large number of party supporters who are equally divided on the issue as the factional heads. The paper says such is the deep discontentment it gathered from interviews with party men and rank and file of the NDC that the party which previously looked as the most well-organised political party in the country, is shaken by a threat of a group of party 'big-shots' loyal to the Attorney-General, threatening to pull out of the NDC. GRI

"Gunshot! ... NDC, NPP supporters clash", is another front page story of the Independent. The paper says, reminiscent of the 'bestial clashes' between supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the days-up to the 1996 general elections, the act of vandalism among supporters of the two parties still persists. This time around, it occurred at La, a suburb of Accra. According to the Independent, at the centre of the hostilities is the public toilet at La township. It says while an NPP member who by dent of the law claims caretaker, NDC supporters are bent on claiming ownership of the toilet citing incompetence as the basis of their agitation. The paper says last Sunday, the disagreement reached a crescendo when Commandos of the NDC group who are usurping the right to manage the toilet, fired gunshots indiscriminately at the NPP woman who was awarded the contract on March, this year, and her supporters. No casualties were recorded though, but four men of the Commandos were arrested by the Cantonments Police. GRI