Machomen Storm NDC Meeting

A SUPPOSED peaceful meeting of some aggrieved members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Afigya Kwabre constituency in the Ashanti region on Sunday turned nasty when some machomen reportedly stormed the meeting grounds. The fully-armed machomen who were allegedly brought in by the constituency chairman, Osei Bosie, purportedly stormed the party�s office at Buoho in the morning when the intended meeting was about to commence. Detailed to disrupt the meeting, the copious charged machomen allegedly dismantled the public address system installed at the place for the meeting as well as other logistics provided for the gathering. The about 100 unwavering machomen were said to have heckled leaders of the meeting and also stated categorically that they would not allow the meeting to take off. Unhappy about certain developments in the party, the aggrieved supporters, most of whom are branch executives, decided to hold a meeting and thereafter voice out their displeasure to the press. Having prior notice of the intended meeting, Mr. Bosie allegedly organized the machomen and tasked them with the responsibility of disrupting the proposed meeting. In an interview with DAILY GUIDE, Solomon Adomako, leader of the aggrieved supporters, said they decided to hold the meeting and afterwards speak to the media because they were discontented about certain developments in the party. According to him, though their struggle contributed to the party�s victory in the 2008 elections, their interests had not been taken care off by the party leadership. He said in spite of numerous assurances from their leaders to them before the 2008 polls, none of their members had been offered a job or anything worth mentioning. Mr. Adomako noted that what infuriated them most was the fact that the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) coordinator for the area, Seth Atanga, who doubled as the youth organizer, refused to recruit any of their members when 100 vacancies were made available in the various modules. He pointed out that several appeals to the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Oppong Kyekyeku, for job consideration yielded no result. Noting that they were now fed up with the leaders� unwillingness to offer them jobs or consider them for favours, Mr Adomako said they had decided to say good bye to the party. Indicating that they would announce the party they would be joining in three days, the leader of the embittered supporters noted that their group was made up of 72 members, most of whom were branch executives. When contacted, Mr Bosie denied the allegation and stated that he was not in town on the day of the meeting and therefore could not have ordered machomen to stop the gathering. He urged the distressed supporters to calm down and use the appropriate channels recognized by the party to address their concerns, pointing out that the party would do whatever it could to provide jobs for the supporters.