Bekwai NPP fans bully Nana Addo

A GROUP known as “Friends of Akufo-Addo” established to back the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bekwai constituency in the Ashanti region, last Thursday demonstrated their anger against the NPP Presidential candidate and also the parliamentary candidate of the Bekwai constituency, Ignatius Kofi Poku Adusei.

The demonstration, which started in the morning and travelled deep into the night, saw irate demonstrators expressing their displeasure against the intention of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP to hold a rally at Bekwai on Monday November 10, 2008.

Speaking to The Chronicle, Mr. John Konadu, the Public Relation officer (PRO) for the 'Friends of Akufo-Addo' group, said it has come to their notice that the Presidential candidate of the NPP would hold a rally to outdoor the parliamentary candidate Kofi Adusei Poku to the constituents of Bekwai on Monday.

According to him, should Nana Akufo-Addo and his entourage come to Bekwai to organize any rally, they (the friends of Akufo Addo) will not be able guarantee his safety. He said the constituents of Bekwai do not want the NPP parliamentary candidate so Nana Addo should bury the idea of organizing any rally at the constituency since the incumbent has not done any developmental project there.

When The Chronicle visited the constituency, hundreds of people including market women and drivers had abandoned their work, most of them in Nana Akufo-Addo and NPP 'T' shirts, wearing red arm and hand bands with placards demonstrating seriously to signal Nana Addo and the NPP from mounting any rally at Bekwai as planned.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards include 'Nana should think twice before coming to Bekwai', 'if Nana wants 95% plus, then he should not come to Bekwai', 'we would like to vote for Nana so he should not confirm Adusei', among others.

The demonstrators thronged the Bekwai Park which is believed to be the proposed grounds for the intended rally and blocked the entrances to the park with car tyres and big stones to prevent Nana Addo and his entourage from using the park.The angry demonstrators also threatened to block all the roads with heavy vehicles to prevent Nana Addo and his campaign team from entering Bekwai.

Other constituents from surrounding villages and towns joined the demonstrators and threatened to boycott the Presidential elections should Nana Addo and his team come to Bekwai on Monday.

They said the Bekwai constituency is a stronghold of the NPP and had campaigned enough to win over 85% votes for the NPP Presidential candidate and the independent parliamentary candidate Lawyer Joe Osei Owusu, and that if he (Nana) goes ahead with his plan, then they would have no option than to vote against Nana Addo and the NPP.