Violence Rocks NPP Primary

The parliamentary primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Sawla-Kalba Constituency in the Bole District of the Northern Region was marked with violence immediately after the results were announced.

The parliamentary candidate-elect for the constituency, Mr. Yussif Justice Godwin and some of his supporters, including his campaign Manager, Mr. Mashood, were assaulted, while others had their property destroyed in the process. The zonal office of the NPP at Sawla where the election was held was burnt down, while a two-bedroom house at Tuna and tailoring shop where some of the supporters had rushed to seek refuge were destroyed. Meanwhile, Mr. Mashood has been declared a persona non grata in Sawla.

Mr. Godwin, who polled a 42 votes to beat his only contender, Mr. Joseph Vogu Naa, who received 31 votes, was however, saved from his assailants by the chief fo Sawla, Alhaji Idisah Jeduah. Mr. Godwin, who sustained some bruises on his hand and some parts of his body, has since been treated and discharged from a clinic at Kalba.

Narrating his ordeal at the weekend, he alleged that immediately after the outcome of the election, which was conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), on April 2, 2004, supporters of his opponent, Vogu Naa, who did not take kindly to the defeat, began to assault him and his followers with out any provocation.

The parliamentary candidate-elect accused two officials of the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council, Messrs Thomas Wejong and Moses Chebere, of fomenting misunderstanding among the people in the area. He further claimed that two days after the election, the two persons organise a constituency executive meeting at Sawla, at which they told the people that the result of the election had been nullified.

?This wrong impression is creating a lot of controversies in the constituency because the two persons have sworn to do all within their might to get Jospeh Vogu Naa to be the parliamentary candidate, Mr. Godwin said.

He therefore appealed to the leadership of the party to take a critical look at the situation so that these gentlemen can be talked to desist from interfering in political activities in the constituency in the name of the NPP and the Northern Regional Minister.