NDC cracks deepen

Bickering within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is far from over, as two youth groups in Yendi are preparing for a showdown.

A swift intervention by a combined team of police and the military recently averted what could have been a bloody clash between the two opposing factions of the ruling party over the continuous stay in office of the current Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Issah Zakaria.

Angry supporters have hurled insults at each other on several occasions in a bid to show support for their preferred candidates in the constituency.

A planned demonstration against MCE on Monday was cancelled at the eleventh hour due to security concerns, as the police declined to give a permit to the organizers citing various reasons to buttress their stance.

The development prompted several people to organize numerous press conferences to propagate their positions.

The group opposed to the retention of the MCE held its press conference at the constituency office of the party while the other group supporting the MCE held another one at the community centre.

According to a group calling itself the True Concerned Youth of NDC, led by Alhassan Awudu Jamoni, the retention of Issah Zakaria in office would pose serious threat to the survival of the party in the constituency.

The group accused the MCE of engaging in acts that had adversely affected the popularity of the party and the government.

They also cited his refusal to rehabilitate many roads in the constituency to tarnish the image of parliamentary candidate.

They also accused the MCE of running an autocratic administration that lacks understanding of the numerous problems confronting the good people of Yendi.

Most of the constituency executives and assembly members of the district usually clash due to the situation.

They therefore issued a two-week ultimatum to the President to, as a matter of urgency, revoke the appointment of the MCE or else they would lock up the office and the Municipal block until their demands are met.

The counter-group calling itself the Concerned Youth of NCE however denied the accusations by True Concerned Youth of NDC, describing its members of the group as faceless.

According to the secretary of the group, Alhaji Sulemana M. Baba, the allegations by the faceless group were baseless, unwarranted and manipulated by detractors of the party to denigrate the hard work and achievements of MCE.

He opined that under the leadership of Issah Zakaria, the Yendi Municipality had enjoyed peace that had propelled development in education, health, agriculture, water and sanitation sub-sectors.

He accused some of the executives in the constituency of promoting their parochial interest and neglecting those of residents and the party at large.

Because of the resolve of the MCE to conduct business of the municipality according to law, these self-seeking individuals have instigated protest against the MCE, he said.

Alhaji Baba reiterated the commitment of his outfit to support the MCE to initiate projects that would help attain the Better Ghana Agenda.

The Regional Treasurer and Director of Operations, Tanko Rashid Computer, told DAILY GUIDE that the development has not come to the notice of the party and tasked all aggrieved supporters to channel their grievances to the right quarters.

He urged party supporters and sympathizers to take advantage of the ongoing outreach programme by the party to bring to the issues to the notice of the executives.

He explained that the outreach programme would be facilitated by Ministers of State, Members of Parliament (MPs) and national, regional and constituency executives to gather information and fine-tune programmes and projects of government to provide a database on job creation.

The Regional Treasurer appealed to Ghanaians to exercise patience with the government as it adopts measures to improve their welfare.