NDC Sacks Demo Boys

It was a game of �survival of the fittest� as some National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth and activists with the group �Volta NDC Youth for Action� were scattered, heckled and arrested by the police during a demonstration against Volta Regional Minister Joseph Amenowode and the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Isaac Kodobissah. The demonstration, which started peacefully from the RTC Park in Ho through the principal streets, was only disrupted at about 1:40pm by the police when the group was a few metres away from the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council (VRCC) where they intended to present their petition. Two leaders of the group have been suspended by the Ho Central Executive. They are Daniel Idikoko, Ho Sava branch chairman and Alhaji Bello, former branch chairman of the same constituency. According to the Ho Central constituency secretary, Stanley Glate, who announced the suspension at a press conference after the arrest of the demonstrators, the two had flouted party regulations by associating with an unknown group that was using the logo and name of the party for mischievous activities. He said, �With the power vested in me as the constituency secretary by my executive committee, I thereby suspend Daniel Idikoko and that the vice chairman of Sava branch NDC will take over as the chairman, pending the upcoming by-elections of the party a few weeks from now. �Alhaji Bello has also been suspended for the same reason and is no more recognised as a member.� Meanwhile, the chairman of the Ho central branch of the party, Hanock Bansah, explained that he was not aware of the said press conference. Some of the placards had inscriptions such as �Greedy Bastards Must Go, Mr. President�; �Volta Is Shaking, Act Now!�; �Your Silence On The Regional Minster And The Ho Municipal Chief Executive Is Killing Volta NDC�; �Mr. President Act Now, Volta NDC Loves You�; �Amenowode Stop Insulting Out Chiefs� and �Kodobisa and Amenowode Must Go�. The police team, led by the Regional Operations Officer, Dominic Agbozo and Samuel Owusu-Berko, intercepted the group between the Volta Regional Museum and the Pensioners Hall and asked them who their leader was. �We have no leader. We are all the same,� they replied. The police therefore arrested 12 of the 30 demonstrators. Some of them were heckled while others were dragged into vehicles. Others were also given a hot chase as they tried to escape arrest. The Regional Police Commander, Alex Bedie, told journalists that even though the police were aware of the demonstration, the group was arrested because it did not have any permit to demonstrate.