NDC Thrown Out In Asawase

Kumasi -- WITH THE Asawase by-election barely two days away, the constituency executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), have been thrown out of their office by the landlady, whose property they are renting.

The landlady is peeved about the non-renewal of a tenancy agreement between her and the constituency executives, a deal which expired six months earlier.

When the constituency chairman, Alhaji Gado Sulemana, was informed about the landlady's action, he quickly rushed to the place. On arrival, he found the place under lock and key, whereupon he quietly left without uttering a word.

According to the landlady, Hajia Mariama Shehu, who spoke to Daily Guide, at the expiration of the tenancy agreement, she informed the leadership of the party, who requested for a renewal, but after negotiations, they settled on ¢8 million, and NDC has reneged on its promise to settle the amount, she claimed.

“We negotiated for renewal, and I demanded eight million cedis (¢8 million). They agreed and promised to honour it. I gave them a grace period of three months to enable them to raise the amount, but they failed to deliver, after persistent demands”, Hajia Mariama stated.

In another attempt to get the landlady to calm down, the regional executives assured her that the national executives would be coming for the last NDC rally towards the April 21 by-election on Thursday, and would definitely bring the money.

A calmed landlady, believing her money was surely coming, remarked that she was surprised that even though the national executives, including the flagbearer of the 2004 elections, Prof John Evans Atta Mills attended the last rally, last Saturday, she did not receive her money. “Nobody has, even, come to tell me anything”, a peeved Hajia Mariama told Daily Guide.

“In view of this development, I locked up the place to prevent the party (NDC) from using my property, illegally. They would remain locked out, until they honoured their part of the agreement, or they pack out peacefully”, she intimated.

It would be recalled that, Alhaji Awudu Areef, the deputy national organiser of the party, went on air to state that he was the one who bailed out the party when its headquarters, was thrown into darkness, because it could not raise enough funding to pay its electricity bills.

This was a time when the man had filed to contest the forthcoming by-election, as an independent candidate, after failing to win the nod of the party at a primary election, held on the subject.

In another development, the head of the medical team, currently providing free medical treatment to the residents of Aboabo, Adukrom, Sepe-Timau and other areas in the constituency has explained that the exercise is apolitical.

Dr.(Mrs.) Gladys Norley Ashitey, who is also the Deputy Minister of Health, added that, her non-government organisation, “Hope Medical Mission”, is undertaking the exercise, and has treated 1000 people, so far, most of whom had diabetes, malaria, diarrhoea and hypertension.

Dr. Ashitey, who is the MP for the Ledzokuku Constituency, in Accra, urged the residents to unite for the development of the constituency.

While the exercise was on-going in front of the Aboabo Central Mosque, NDC vehicles were seen driving pass the place as their public address systems kept urging the residents to ignore the medical team, because, according to them, the drugs they were administering had outlived their potency.