Bloody Clash! At NPP Headquarters

Free for all fight at the NPP head quarters yesterday

The headquarters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Asylum Down in Accra was yesterday virtually turned into a Hollywood movie scene when hired hoodlums clashed with the party's security boys in a free-for-all fight.

It was during a press conference by Kwabena Agyei Agyepong and Paul Awentimi Afoko, General Secretary and National Chairman respectively, to throw light on the recent happenings in the party which had pitched them against the other officers.

The hoodlums, who were wielding weapons including guns, were said to have been hired by the organisers of the press conference; and they met their match in the NPP security boys, who are called Invisible Forces.

The two men, who have literally hijacked the party, were holding what looked like a hurriedly organised fire-fighting press conference to justify their decision to relieve Acting Communication Director of the party, Perry Okudzeto, of his position and subsequently appointing nine new Deputy Communication Directors under questionable circumstances when there is no substantive director of communications.

Even though text messages sent to journalists and media houses inviting them to the event said it was to be addressed by leadership of the party, it turned out that it was only the National Chairman and the General Secretary who were present.

The rest of the national executive were nowhere in sight and have since denied being informed, let alone invited to be part of the activity, giving room for more speculations that the two people have now hijacked the party and are running it as their estate.

Apparently, the press conference was organised to attack DAILY GUIDE as a media house and its Publisher, Freddie Blay, who is the NPP's 1 st Vice Chairman, over publications on happenings in the party, accusing him of spoon-feeding the editorial team with information about the party's internal matters.

The attack had been started by Nana Ohene-Ntow, a former General Secretary of the party who is currently the spokesperson of Alan Kyerematen, a presidential hopeful.

Confusion
Midway through the press conference which was being held in the conference hall at the headquarters amidst tight security, confusion broke out at the forecourt when the Invisible Forces clashed with some gun-wielding stoutly-built men, popularly called 'macho men,' who had invaded the premises, making nonsense of the entire confab.

They were said to have stormed the headquarters in a vehicle whose ownership remains unknown, even though speculations indicate that it belongs to Alan Kyerematen, as it was being driven by a gentleman identified as his bodyguard nicknamed, Soldier.

That was moments after General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, had arrived at the headquarters.

The 'macho men,' who numbered four, were spotted in a brownish Mitsubishi 4×4 vehicle with registration number GS 1976-13 which was parked at the forecourt with guns.

They were however, believed to have been brought in by Kwabena Agyepong and Paul Afoko to offer them some sort of protection in case of any outbreak of violence at the headquarters.

They were the same hoodlums who were brought in to take over security at the headquarters earlier, which degenerated into a bloody confrontation involving one Delaso.

An argument ensued between the two sides, resulting in the clashes in which the Invisible Forces overpowered them and chased them out with machetes amidst heavy beatings in the full glare of journalists and party officials.

Action
The vehicle was sprayed with a substance that looked like dirty oil.

In the heat of the ensuing melee, the vehicle was hit several times, resulting in the vandalisation of one of its side mirrors.

This brought proceedings in the conference room to an abrupt end since the journalists present rushed out to observe things for themselves.

For close to 30 minutes  machetes were flying all over the place with party activist, Hajia Fati,  popularly known as 'Aliga,' running berserk and raining insults on the General Secretary and the National Chairman regarding how they were running the party.

She blamed them for the party's current woes.
National Chairman, Paul Afoko, tried to brave the odds as he descended from the building to intervene but to no avail.

He could only stand and look on in awe since no one was ready to comply with his intervention. Afoko claimed that the invaders were NDC operatives, raising question about his sincerity since there was strong speculation that he knew about their presence.

Interestingly, Kwabena Agyepong, who was speaking with such combative and haughty tone, managed to lock himself up in his air conditioned office upstairs till the entire action was over.

Gun-wielding policemen emerged about 20 minutes after the action had subsided.

It took their pleas and intervention to rescue one of the 'macho men' who had been trapped in the vehicle totally scared.

Paul Afoko had to call back the media into the conference hall with a plea for them not to place much emphasis on the clashes -   even when he himself described it as an 'invasion' and attack of the headquarters.

He sought to distance himself and Agyepong from the incident, somewhat accusing some unseen hands and the NDC of being behind the supposed attacks.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu