Trouble is brewing in the Upper West Secretariat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as differences between party supporters opposed to the Regional Executive have grown from bad to worse.
This time round, party supporters who are opposed to the Regional Executive, have adopted a new approach, moving away from the burning of party vehicles, demonstrations and the issuing of statements, to charging on individual executive members and issuing them with threats of physical assault if they ventured.
This was the scenario last week when a faction of NPP supporters popularly called the ‘Talibans’ numbering about ten, broke lose and charged on the Wa Central Constituency Chairman, Abdulai Safana alias ‘Plumb’ at his residence and threatened to beat him up.
They collected a Holy Quoran which he was reading from his hands and threw it at his face and insulted him. Their reason: Information gathered, spoke of plans by the party executives to conduct various constituency and regional delegates conferences secretly without their knowledge.
Credible information gathered by The Evening news had it that the “Talibans’ were in the chairman’s place to ascertain the authenticity of their information but did not take kindly to the chairman’s negative response that he had no knowledge of the secret moves, hence their action.
That was not all, the ‘Talabans’ on their return to a spot at Jengbeyiri, met the Regional Vice Chairman of the NPP, Alhaji Yakubu Seidu, also known as ‘no condition is permanent’ who had parked his vehicle and was conversing with another leading member of the party, Alhaji Sumani Bondana, and insulted them
The two, especially Alhaji Seidu, received a reasonable amount of insults, threats that he had been banned from the area by the ‘Talibans’. One of the ‘Talibans’ is alleged to have pulled a knife at Alhaji Seidu but was prevented from causing any havoc. Alhaji Seidu was later whisked away by one Forouk.
Some of the ‘Talibans’ told The Evening News that they would resist any attempt by the executives to hold any delegates conference secretly with the view to imposing people on them. The delegates conference is just the immediate problem but the deep rooted issued are that we have been sidelined and denied participation in party activities.
“Although some of us are quality for contract works, we have not been given any because we oppose decisions by the executive that are not in the interest of the party,” they said. The group threatened burning down the party’s new double-cabin pick-up allocated to the region anytime they see it doing job apart from party activities.
Ever since the NPP won the 2000 elections, there had been a sharp division between party executives and factions of the party’s supporters in the Upper West Region. The differences degenerated into crisis resulting in the burning of two party campaign Niva cars and the staging of various demonstrations.
A high-powered delegation led the Government’s spokesman, Kwabena Adjapong, visited the region sometime ago in a bid to solve the impasse, but it ended in a deadlock.
Meanwhile, the Regional Criminal Investigations Department (RCID) of the Upper West Regional Police Commands is investigating the threats and assaults on Alhaji Seidu by the ‘Talibans’ Although three names were given to the police as ring leaders and people who issued the threats on Alhaji Seidu, no arrests have been made by the rests have been by the police.
