On the blind side of many Ghanaians and, but for his intuitive decision not to appear before the Rev Asante Antwi-chaired Disciplinary Committee (DC) of the New Patriotic Party on October 21, 2015, embattled National Chairman, Paul Awimtemi Afoko would have been a dead man following plots to drench him in acid at the Greater Accra office of the NPP at Kokomlemle, The aL-hAJJ can today report.
This paper’s intelligence has uncovered how some senior members of the NPP, with the connivance of their so-called party internal security, planned bringing hired hoodlums from Tema, Ashaiman and Agbogbloshie to attack Paul Afoko if he had turned up at the Disciplinary Committee meeting last Wednesday.
Reports available to this paper indicate that a well-known member of Nana Akufo-Addo sponsored Invincible Forces contacted a former constituency organizer of one of the Tema constituencies (name withheld) to organize NPP faithful “to come to the venue of the DC hearing, Accra regional office of the NPP ostensibly, to demonstrate against Afoko and in the process, chairman Afoko would be physically attacked and acid-bathed.”
“But the young man who was tasked with this operation refused so what they did was that some members of the Invincible Forces decided to lead the operations themselves with some hired hoodlums. On the day when Afoko was expected to meet the DC, about 10 members of the Invincible Forces and other well-build guys were spotted parked in their vehicles at vantage points around the Kokomlemle office of the party,” a reliable source narrated.
The source added that “Afoko got wind of what was planned against him so he sent his lawyers to tell members of the committee he would not be able to meet them on security grounds so he would arrange for a private hotel for the meeting at his own cost, but the DC rejected his offer.”
Apparently, the hired hoodlums were to pounce on Chairman Afoko if he had come to the Kokomlemle headquarters of the party as it was done to Dr. Charles Wereko Brobbey, and in the process acid-bath him.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP last week unanimously voted to suspend its National Chairman Paul Afoko indefinitely.
The NEC upheld the overwhelming decision by the Disciplinary Committee which decided that Mr Afoko be suspended.
The Disciplinary Committee took the decision after two senior members of the party from the North, petitioned it, demanding amongst others, that the National Chairman Paul Afoko, be made to step aside until after 2016 elections.
Even though the Council of Elders of the NPP were the first to petition the DC, their petition had to be shelved as lawyers for Paul Afoko rightly pointed out to the DC the Council of Elders lacked capacity in petitioning the DC as per the NPP constitution. But, determined on carrying through Akufo Addo’s treasured wish of seeing the back of Paul Afoko, two willing northern tokens, Tamale-based engineer-turned banker, Alhaji Aminu Amadu and Bawku domiciled “trouble-maker”, Alhaji Sule Yirimea offered themselves to do the hatchet job by recycling and presenting to the DC virtually, the same charges as that of the council of elders.
Last Friday’s NEC meeting was marred by violence in the morning when members of the party’s private security, ‘Invisible Forces,’ burnt a motorbike and destroyed the windscreen of a taxi cab at the party office.
According to them, a youth group they suspect were members of ‘Bolgatanga Bull Dog’ who are allegedly loyalists of Mr. Afoko had attempted to disrupt the meeting.
Meanwhile, the embattled Chairman has advised the public to disregard news about his suspension, insisting that he is still in charge as the party’s National Chairman
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