General News of Saturday, 17 December 2016

Source: The New Statesman

NDC Organiser curses executives for “chopping” campaign money

NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia

A deputy Western Regional Women's Organizer of the National Democratic Congress, Araba Tagoe, has heaped curses on all colleague executives for hijacking monies and other resources meant for the party's electioneering campaign, adding that posterity will never forgive them for contributing to their party's humiliating defeat in just-ended elections.

Speaking in a radio interview in Takoradi last Wednesday, the embittered deputy women's organiser said the executives were never going to have it easy for contributing to the party’s defeat.

She maintained that the executives did nothing to add up to the work of President John Dramani Mahama, adding that they were only interested in their interest and not that of the party.

The visibly angry organiser raged, “God will really punish you for sabotaging our hardworking President's efforts.”

Madam Tagoe described the attitude of her colleagues as criminal and called on the police to investigate, arrest and prosecute all of them for diverting the party’s monies into their accounts.

According to her, she cannot bring herself to understand why such greedy and unscrupulous party executives could hijack campaign resources with the intent of pushing the NDC into opposition.

She mentioned one Anita Annan as one of the persons who squandered campaign money.

Madam Tagoe’s allegations somehow confirm the mysterious disappearance of two truckloads of gas cylinders and bags of rice from the regional office after they were brought to the region for vote buying.

With GHC20, 000 being the least amount of campaign money sent to each of the 28 constituencies in the region, Madam Tagoe said some of her colleagues claimed their parcels got missing after they were delivered.

She pointed out that the NDC executives did nothing to contribute to the party’s campaign but only engaged in thievery and misappropriation of campaign cash, adding that they did not only refuse to cooperate and open up to her two deputies but also hijacked campaign resources meant for the women’s wing.

She maintained that the hijacking of campaign resources was a deliberate move by loyalists of Nana Toku to sabotage the administration of "Big Aidoo," their regional chairman.

Information available to the Daily statesman has it that those scheming for the re-election of Nana Toku as the regional party chairman popped champagne over their party's abysmal performance in the region.

Contrary to "Big Aidoo's" dream of snatching more parliamentary seats for the NDC in the Western Region, the party lost 8 out of its 18 seats to the NPP.

But Madam Tagoe insisted all those sabotaging the administration of "Big Aidoo" would bow down their heads in shame because of the resolve to re-elect him for another four-year term at the Party's next regional Congress.