NDC Serial Callers On Strike

Some communication members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region have boycotted defending the party on local radio stations in Tamale, saying they are disillusioned in the leadership. The group, popularly called serial callers, who have not engaged in their propaganda activities for over a week now, claimed their leadership had failed to address their concerns, despite the fact that their concerns had been raised on two separate meetings with the National Propaganda Secretary, Richard Quashigah, and Deputy Information Minister, Baba Jamal. According to them, they would cease to defend the party if their concerns were not immediately addressed, threatening to direct their fury on new recruits who dared to take up their abandoned positions. They mentioned their lack of a vibrant leader, as a major cause of the little attention accorded them by the party, and urged the party�s leadership to do away with the current Regional Communications Director, Mohammed Amin Adam Abio, who doubles as Regional Youth Organizer of the NDC. �We cannot fathom why he holds three positions in the party when some of us have none�, they observed. But Mr. Amin Adam, when contacted, rubbished their claims and described them as misplaced and an attempt to sow seeds of discord in the party. He told Daily Guide that the choice of a Communication Director for the party was the sole prerogative of the Regional Executive Committee of the NDC. According to him, all those calling for his removal joined the team when it had gained momentum through his toil. He indicated that he had, on several occasions, appealed to the party�s leadership to replace him but they maintained him in view of his meritorious contributions to the party. Mr. Abio noted that the propagandists were defending the party out of their own will, expressing dismay about their sudden U-turn to make outrageous demands. He accused them of allowing their contributions to be incited by some persons bent on disintegrating the forefront of the party, intimating that since he was chosen by the party, no individual could dismiss him, except the party. The communications director rebutted claims that the concerns of the group had not been met, citing various instances when some form of support had been extended to various members of the group. Though he admitted that some members of the group had stayed off radio discussion programmes, he told Daily Guide they personally denied they were on strike and wondered why they failed to honour an emergency meeting with him. The meeting, he indicated, was meant to settle the impasse among members of the group and its leadership, but some persons had ensured that none of propagandists attended it. Mr. Abio however promised to investigate the matter. He appealed to aggrieved members to address their concerns through the appropriate channels, stating that their job as communication officers of the party was borne out of volunteerism and goodwill for the party. Mr. Abio, who is also the Regional National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) Coordinator, disclosed that their concerns submitted to the party�s hierarchy a couple of weeks ago were being looked into when suddenly they decided to embark on the said strike action. �My brother, party work is voluntary, they should bear with us,� he remarked.