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Lord Essien, the propaganda secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ahanta West constituency of the Western Region, has been banned from speaking on radio on behalf of the party for the next six months. The decision was arrived at at a meeting between the Western Regional chairman of the party, Nana Toku and the constituency executives over a recent confusion that had rocked the Ahanta West NDC. Essien was said to have accused some NDC leaders in the region of taking bribes from the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ahanta West, Joseph Dofoyena. The banned party stalwart had alleged that four top NDC figures � Kofi Totobi Quakye; Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo; Western Regional Chairman, Nana Toku and former Local Government Minister, Kwasi Oppong Fosu � received bribes from the DCE. The unspecified amounts, he said, had influenced them to become bias towards the DCE. Last Sunday, about four NDC activists in Ahanta West stormed the constituency office of the party and used pieces of wood to seal off the office. According to sources, the move stemmed from an alleged suspension of three branch members of the party at Agona-Nkwanta. The three were suspended for allegedly condemning the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, George Kwame Aboagye, for purportedly writing to President Mahama that he could not work with DCE Dofoyena. The regional chairman of the party, Nana Toku, therefore convened a meeting between the feuding factions last Monday to try and resolve the impasse and it was at the said meeting that the propaganda secretary was banned from speaking on radio. Defence However, speaking to Daily Guide, Lord Essien indicated that he had never said anywhere that some leading members of the party had been taking bribe from the DCE. He noted that the allegation was not even the reason why he had been banned and wondered why some media houses would accuse him of making such an allegation. He explained that the reason why he was banned from speaking on any radio station was that he had been accused of taking sides in the alleged feud between DCE Dofoyena and Kwame Aboagye. �I have been accused of being on the side of the MP instead of remaining neutral as a constituency executive of the party, and that is why I have been banned�, he indicated. He told DAILY GUIDE that the MP had indicated that he (MP) could no longer work with Joseph Dofoyena � a move that had angered majority of the NDC members in the constituency. He added that the MP had subsequently written to President John Mahama to remove the DCE from office because he was performing poorly in the area and many people had been commenting on the issue on radio. �So I was called by a radio presenter to speak on the issue and I defended the MP. But the regional chairman said as a constituency propaganda secretary, I should not have taken side on the issue and that I should have remained neutral,� he underscored. According to the suspended constituency propaganda secretary, what he really said on the radio station did not in any way mean that he was on the side of the MP. �What I said was that if the two leading persons of the party in the constituency fight, those at the grassroots will suffer most, and that if the president wants to sacrifice any of them it would be the DCE and not the MP because the MP was elected while the DCE was appointed by the president�, he explained. Lord Essien maintained that he was not perturbed at all at the ban because, according to him, the work of a propaganda secretary was not only to go on radio stations to speak. �I can still contribute on issues being discussed on radio through text messages, WhatsApp, facebook and other social media�, noted.