Ellembelle DCE meets party members under heavy security protection

Kwasi Bonzo holding Mr. John Asmah hands

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle in the Western Region, Kwasi Bonzo, on Sunday, December 3, 2017, visited some communities in the Ellembelle District with a heavy security escort.

This was his maiden visit since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won power in 2016.

He visited Baseke, Awiebo and Aiyinasi communities to meet and interact with party members and foot soldiers under heavy police protection numbering between 10 to 15 police officers.

People were astonished as to why the DCE would be visiting his party people under such tight security.

Interestingly, however, the Constituency Executives were noticeably absent. The Constituency Chairman, Organizer, Acting Secretary, Women Organizer, Youth Organizer, among others were all not present at the meeting. We gathered that the DCE has been at loggerheads with some of the Constituency Party Executives.

At the meeting, the DCE among other things affirmed that he cannot work with the current Executives hence the need to vote against all of them during the upcoming Constituency elections because he intends to compete for the Parliamentary elections in 2019 and if the current executives are re-elected he would lose the election.

He therefore openly endorsed one Mr. John Asmah as his preferred candidate for the upcoming constituency chairmanship race because he is the only one who is committed to ensuring his personal victory as a Parliamentary candidate in 2019.

This declaration angered some of the polling station executives present who said the DCE was creating further divisions in the party because of his personal ambition, and that I will make it difficult for the party to secure the Parliamentary seat from the NDC in the 2020 elections.

Our investigations revealed that majority of the party foot soldiers are unhappy with Mr. Bonzo over a number of unpleasant issues affecting the progress of the party of which he has failed to address and rather chose to intimidate them with heavy police presence at the meeting.

Among the grievances of foot soldiers were the so-called “partnership agenda” the DCE claims he is having with the NDC’s Member of Parliament of Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah.

They alleged the DCE is always seen together with Mr. Buah at most functions, praising, projecting and crediting him with all developmental projects over the President. This act, they believe will hinder the fortunes of the party in both Parliamentary and Presidential elections come 2020.

They also complained about the non-payment of polling agents’ allowances for both 2012 and 2016 elections which the DCE had admitted he had invested in some account and had still not paid in spite of the various attempts to get him to pay.

Some of the aggrieved foot soldiers who spoke with us poured out their displeasure; “the DCE who was our parliamentary candidate has never visited us since we won power for almost a year now and today that he has visited us, he visited us with heavy police protection”

“We hardly meet him at his office when we visit. He has surrounded himself with NDC people neglecting some of us who toiled for the party’’.

A polling station chairman we interviewed had this to say; ‘’how on earth should the DCE endorse and declare support for some group when nominations have not even been opened yet”.

According to him, “The NPP constitution frowns on such unwarranted and divisive open declaration. The DCE is destroying the party. As the leader of the party, you can secretly support some group but you don’t openly support other groups against the current executives whose hard work and efforts for the past eight years have brought the party to power. We will petition the appropriate authorities to curtail this divisive act’’.

Kwasi Bonzo told our news he went to the meeting with heavy police protection because of the factions and that he fear to be victimized.

Source: Philip Eshun