Confusion Rocks Jomoro NDC

Some agitated supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Jomoro constituency in the Western Region have vowed to continue to protest against their District Chief Executive (DCE), Sylvester Nuomah Dadieh.

The angry supporters, mostly branch executives of the party in Jomoro, have accused the DCE of sidelining them in the execution of certain party activities in the area.

The irate NDC supporters, clad in red attires and wrist bands, besieged the offices of the District Assembly at Half-Assini in their numbers on Monday to protest against their DCE.

They also called on President John Dramani Mahama to, as a matter of urgency, sack DCE Sylvester Nuomah Dadieh from office if the party wanted to retain the Jomoro constituency seat in the 2016 parliamentary election.

The NDC supporters claimed that since his appointment as the DCE, Dadieh had refused to involve them in decision making and other party activities in the constituency.

They asserted that the DCE rather chose to work with other people who were unknown to the constituency executives.

The angry Jomoro NDC activists pointed out that the alleged behaviour of the DCE was a sign of disrespect; hence, their decision to get him sacked from office.

When DAILY GUIDE called the Jomoro constituency chairman of the NDC, Gideon Koniba, he confirmed the protest by the branch executives of the party against the DCE, adding, “Even though I travelled, I was informed about all that happened”.

He noted that the DCE had told the newly-elected constituency executives of the party that he could not work with them and that as a result, the DCE didn’t invite the executives for party meetings.

“The DCE does not invite us to party activities and he refuses to tell us anything if we try to inquire; and so the executives deemed the actions of the DCE as disrespectful and want the President to remove Dadieh from office,” he added.

The party’s branch executives also alleged that the DCE was not in talking terms with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Wg. Cdr. (Rtd) Kabenlah Anaman, and had always sidelined the constituency chairman in party activities in the area.

The NDC constituency chairman told DAILY GUIDE that since the NDC supporters in Jomoro were not comfortable with the DCE’s actions, they wanted the President to remove him from office because he was taking them for granted.

The constituency chairman revealed that some branch executives of the party also held a press conference at Elubo in the constituency to let the people know that the NDC had not embarked on a single project in the area since the DCE assumed office.

According to the Elubo branch executives of the NDC, the situation would make it difficult for the NDC to campaign for the people’s votes come 2016 “because we don’t have anything to stand on to campaign”.

When journalists contacted DCE Dadieh on the allegations levelled against him, he declined to comment, explaining that the case was purely a party issue and would prefer it was settled internally.

It would be recalled that the DCE and a former constituency chairman of the NDC in Jomoro, Kofi Anthony, allegedly placed an injunction on the constituency election to elect new officers while delegates were about to cast their votes in August last year.

DAILY GUIDE was told that the DCE placed the injunction on the election because he knew his preferred candidates were going to be voted out completely and therefore needed time to ‘see’ the delegates.

The move infuriated the delegates who rushed to the Jomoro NDC constituency office to burn it down, but their action was foiled by the Jomoro district police.

The delegates then vowed to deal ruthlessly with the DCE and his cohorts should they fail to lift the injunction placed on the constituency to enable them vote in the NDC constituency elections.

When the elections were eventually allowed to take place, DAILY GUIDE learnt that a new chairman, Gideon Koniba, and other new executives, who were not the preferred choices of the DCE, were elected.