A
member of the so-called Bamba Boys, an amorphous group of able-bodied young men
brought together by Moctar Bamba, National Youth Organizer of the NPP and given
guerilla training to terrorize supporters of the NDC in the run up to
elections, on election day or during voter registration exercises has been
jailed by a Techiman Circuit Court for acts of violence.
On Monday,
September 5, 2011, Kwadwo Fosu was sentenced to a three year jail term after
admitting to the charges preferred against him.
Explaining
to the Daily Post how Kwadwo Fosu came
to be jailed, Mr. Alex Kyeremeh, the Municipal Chief Executive of Techiman, explained
that in the run-up to the 2008 elections, the accused person was among a number
of very well-built men, popularly referred to as macho men who stormed the
Techiman district to terrorize supporters of the NDC to prevent them from casting
their votes. The aim was to minimize the NDC’s vote while maximizing the NPP’s.
He
said the macho men were particularly active in the hinterlands where they
subjected NDC supporters to severe beatings in many cases. The police,
interestingly, failed to arrest them.
During
the run-off after the December 7, 2008 polls failed to produce a winner, Kwadwo
Fosu and his colleagues mercilessly beat up an NDC supporter till near death.
Again, the police failed to arrest them.
Sometime
in 2009, Mr. Alex Kyeremeh said Kwadwo Fosu met him and apologized for what he
and his colleagues did. He confided in the MCE that they were hired from Kumasi
by the MP for Techiman-North, Hon. Ameyaw Ekumfi to come and terrorize NDC
supporters to enable him win the seat.
Kwadwo
Fosu, who is well built, said since he won the election, the MP has failed to
honour the numerous promises he made to them. The macho man, who did not know
the MCE was recording his confession, asked the MCE to give him money so he and
his colleague macho men in Kumasi could work for the NDC next time round.
The
MCE said he told the young man that hiring macho men to terrorize innocent
people was illegal and therefore could not give him money for that purpose. He however
told the machoman he had been forgiven and therefore should turn over a new
leaf.
However,
during the limited registration exercise last year, the MCE said he was
surprise when Kwadwo Fosu came to his office and informed him that Prof. Ameyaw
Ekumfi had hired them again to come to the district and harass NDC supporters
to prevent them from registering. He asked for money so that he and his boys
will work for the NDC instead of the NPP. It was then that he (the MCE) realized
the macho man was incorrigible and has thus failed to turn over a new leaf.
According
to the MCE, he then decided to get the macho man arrested to ensure that he
does not operate again since his activities was an affront to all peace loving
Ghanaians irrespective of their political background. He therefore feigned
interest in the whole deal and therefore discussed the mode of payment with
Kojo Fosu. Initially, they decided the money should be deposited into his
Barclays Bank account but he later asked him to come down to Accra to collect
it.
Kwadwo Fosu, oblivious of the fact that the
BNI had been alerted came down to Accra later and met the MCE’s brother who
handed the money over to him. It was while he was counting the money that
operatives of the BNI moved in and arrested him.
In his
caution statement to the police, the macho man stated that he and others were
recruited by Prof. Ameyaw Ekumfi to terrorize NDC supporters in the Techiman
district during the 2008 elections and again during the registration exercise.
While
the macho man was in custody, Moctar Bamba called the MCE on a number of
occasions and pleaded with him to have the case dropped. When the MCE would not
yield to the plea, a lawyer was hired to defend the accused person.
The
lawyer later managed to obtain bail for Kwadwo Fosu but the macho man jumped
bail leading to the Techiman Circuit court issuing a bench warrant for him.
Later, the police arrested Kwadwo Fosu in Kumasi while he was driving Moctar
Bamba. He was remanded in police custody and then on Monday, September 5,
jailed for three years.
On
the day judgment was given, neither his lawyer nor Moctar Bamba turned up in
court to solidarise with him. As for Prof. Ameyaw Ekumfi, he never came to the
court on any occasion nor visit the accused while he was in custody.
Hiring
macho men to terrorize their political opponents has become the stock-in-trade
of Ghana’s politicians, particularly those belonging to the NPP.
Various
groups made up of macho men have been formed within this opposition party to terrorize
innocent Ghanaians desirous to exercise their right to vote unless they are
supporters of the NPP. Two of the main groups within the NPP made up of these
macho men are the Bamba Boys led by Moctar Bamba and the Action Troopers led by
Lord Commey, the Former National Organiser of the party.
Currently,
intel available to the Daily Post indicates that many more macho men are being
recruited by a retired army
officers in charge of Nana Akufo-Addo’s security.
