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Regional News of Saturday, 25 January 2014

Source: Daily Guide

NDC executives fight over public toilet

Alhaji Nii Markwei Dawda, the Kwesimintsim constituency propaganda secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Effia constitutuency chairman of the party, Alidu Mohammed of misappropriating proceeds from public toilets and school feeding programme in the two constituencies.

According to the propaganda secretary, Alidu became the constituency chairman when the two constituencies which used to be Effia-Kwesimintsim was later split into Kwesimintsim and Effia.

Fight over Toilet

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, Alhaji Dawda alleged that in 2009, prior to the division of the Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive of Sekondi-Takoradi, Kobina Pra Annan, also called Mallon, allotted the constituency four public toilets.

“The former MCE also gave the constituency the feeding of about 850 school children under the School Feeding Programme,” he alleged.

He continued that when the constituency was divided into two in 2012, the two areas were mandated to manage two of the toilets each and use the proceeds to run the party in the constituency.

The NDC propaganda secretary alleged that even though Alidu Mohammed was the chairman for Effia, “he was collecting proceeds of the public toilets from both his area and that of Kwesimintsim.”

“I was not happy with the situation, so, I managed to take over the management of the two public toilets given to Kwesimintsim from Alidu, together with some party members,” he stressed.

Intense Fight Over School Feeding

Nii Markwei Dawda revealed that the erstwhile Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency was given 850 school children to feed under the school feeding programme.

According to him, after the constituency was divided into two, he expected Chairman Alidu would share the number of school children being fed among the two constituencies.

“When the constituency was divided into two, the best thing Alidu should have done was to divide the number of the school children into two, so that the women in the two areas would benefit from it.”

“But as I speak to you, the Effia Chairman takes all the proceeds from the two constituencies,” Alhaji Dawda alleged.

He continued, “What Alidu is doing will not help the progress of the NDC in the two constituencies. I am calling on him to concentrate in his area and stop taking money from the two areas or he should account for the proceeds so far collected,” he pointed out.

Alidu Mohammed Reacts

Reacting to the allegations in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the Effia Constituency Chairman of NDC, Mohammed Alidu, said the allegations levelled against him were unfounded.

He indicated that the 850 school children who were being fed under the school feeding programme were all in the Kwesimintsim constituency.

He added that the feeding of the children was being managed by some party women including the Kwesimintsim constituency women’s organizer, one Naa Ayale.

“I have never gone to collect any proceeds from the school feeding from the women in Kwesimintsim. Nii Markwie Dawda just wants to disgrace me for no apparent reasons,” he noted.

Chairman Alidu alleged the propaganda secretary was doing all that because he refused to accept a gun allegedly manufactured by Nii Markwei.

But in a quick rebuttal, Nii Markwei said, “Even though I am a blacksmith, I am not into gun production, but I have license to repair guns.”

Women’s Organizer Talks

When contacted, the Kwesimintsim women’s organizer of the NDC refuted the allegation that she shared the proceeds from the school feeding programme in the Kwesimintsim constituency with the Effia chairman.

GH¢4,000 Waakye Brouhaha

It would be recalled that Nii Markwei Dawda somewhere last year made a startling revelation to the effect that Alidu Mohammed, the Effia constituency chairman allegedly pocketed an amount of GH¢24,000 meant for the biometric registration exercise prior to the 2012 elections but credited ‘waakye’ to the tune of GH¢4,000.

The Kwesimintsim NDC propaganda secretary alleged that during the 2010 biometric registration exercise, the NDC chairman was allegedly buying on credit basis to feed the party’s polling agents who were assigned to monitor the various polling stations in the constituency during the registration exercise.

He told DAILY GUIDE that because the constituency NDC chairman was buying the food on credit, the amount accumulated to over GH¢4,000 at the end of the exercise.