MCE chased from mosque

The just-ended Eid-Ul-Fitr nearly turned nasty at the Wenchi Zongo last Friday when the Wenchi Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Yaw Osei Adjei, was chased away with clubs, cutlasses and stones when he visited five mosques in the municipality to worship with them.

The MCE, who was also supposed to present rice, sugar and other items to the Muslim community on behalf of President Atta Mills, was not allowed to make the presentation.

But for his swiftness and the timely intervention of the police who accompanied him, he would have been lynched by the youth, who are mostly NDC foot-soldiers.

As at the time of filing this report, several armed policemen had been deployed to the town to keep the peace while five persons, suspected to be followers of the MCE who sustained various degrees of injury had been admitted at the Wenchi Methodist Hospital for treatment.

DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the angry mob, mainly from the Wenchi Wangara Line, ambushed and chased Mr. Osei Adjei out because of some disparaging statements he reportedly made about Muslims in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), to the effect that they did not contribute much to the party’s 2008 electoral victory, and therefore did not deserve any special consideration in government appointments.

Residents said the Zongo community impressed upon the MCE to retract the comments on several occasions but he declined.

He was also accused of supporting some candidates for the various constituency executive elections, and thereby working against those from the Zongo areas who had filed to contest the elections.

In the circumstances, all the contestants from the Zongo communities withdrew their candidacy and adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Investigations conducted by DAILY GUIDE indicate that from then on, the aggrieved NDC Zongo youth started agitating for action against the MCE if he dared enter the Zongo areas anytime.

DAILY GUIDE further gathered that tension rose to a crescendo when a petition sent to both the national as well as the regional executives of the party to step in, failed to yield any results.

Six days to the end of the Ramadan, the MCE decided to donate some items including sugar, milo, milk and rice to the Muslim community but those who were assigned to donate the items were driven away because according to the Muslims, the fasting had almost come to an end, and as such, the items would not serve any purpose.

Unknown to the MCE, the youth had scheduled their revenge for Sallah day, on which they knew the MCE, as usual, would visit all the five mosques to worship with them.

An eyewitness told DAILY GUIDE that as expected, Mr. Osei Adjei, accompanied by the newly-elected executive members of the party and police escorts, visited the first mosque where the youth were.

Immediately he alighted from his official vehicle, the irate youth attacked amidst insults, prompting his security to whisk him away. The same incident happened in other three mosques.

Not perturbed by the action of the youth, the MCE followed up to the celebration grounds to pay homage to his Muslim brothers, but this time it turned bloody after his entourage was ambushed and assaulted by the youth, resulting in some broken heads and limbs.

Our sources say he later attempted to present some assorted items to the Municipal Chief Imam, Alhaji Suali Adams, at his residence and to report the behavior of the youth to him, but that was where the worst attack took place.

Unknown to the MCE and his entourage, all the youth from the different mosques had also met at the Chief Imam’s place to protest against the MCE.

Immediately they spotted the MCE, they started throwing stones and other implements at his vehicle. Sensing danger, the entourage quickly dashed into their cars and sped off to the Wenchi police station to seek refuge.

Later in the day, a bus loaded with armed policemen was brought in to save the situation.

Since he was nominated and confirmed by the Municipal Assembly, Mr. Osei Adjei has never known peace, as both members of his party and the general public continue to agitate for his removal.

While some accuse him of being corrupt, others say he is arrogant.

As at the time of filing this report, the situation looked tense, with heavily-armed policemen patrolling the municipality.

When contacted, Mr. Osei Adjei declined to comment on the incident, saying he could not grant an interview on the telephone.