TENSION IS mounting at Chorkor, a fishing community over the removal of mounted flags of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) by a group suspected to be members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Supporters of the NPP in the area are currently seething over the removal of the flags which have since been replaced by those of the NDC at various locations in the community.
They woke up on Saturday morning to see most of the flags which had been mounted on poles from the �White house� to Chemuenaa for the past 6 weeks replaced with those of the NDC.
This was said to have been done under the cover of darkness on the evening of Friday, June 8 when most residents had retired to bed. Only a few places around the popular �Tea Garden� junction were spared but even then NDC flags were mounted atop of the NPP flags.
The action was said to have been carried out by some NDC youth using a vehicle with registration number GE 1291-12, reminiscent of the provocation that led to violent clashes in the Odododiodioo constituency during the recent biometric voters� registration exercise during which arms-wielding NDC youth ran riot.
NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the area (Ablekuma South), Ursula Owusu who spoke to DAILY GUIDE on the issue said �we might be forced to retaliate in kind because you can�t just sit by for some of these things to continue to go on.�
This she said was because �my members too are getting very agitated; my people are getting angry and are becoming difficult to control.�
A visit by the paper to the area confirmed their concerns since brand new flags of the NDC were seen all over the place with those of the NPP which used to line the old Winneba road absent.
NPP constituency executives have since lodged an official complaint with the Dansoman and Korle Bu police for action.
Ursula Owusu believes the action is a deliberate attempt by the NDC to show force which could eventually provoke clashes or a virtual response from supporters of the opposition party since some of them are equally bent on removing the NDC flags.
She described the situation as �worrying� saying �we don�t need that in the run up to our campaigning.�
Apart from that, she said �it is an offence to remove it and it is only just a provocative action which can lead to a breach of the peace in the area.�
In order to ensure a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the December 2012 elections, she said �we need everybody to just abide by the rules of the game and ensure that we have a peaceful, free, issues-based and non-confrontational campaign and election; it is in everybody�s interest if we work together to make this happen.�
�Now if you go and remove NPP flags from Chorkor and mount your flags, tomorrow our members will also say fine you�ve done that to me; I�m also at liberty to remove yours,� she said asking rhetorically �and where is that going to lead except in clashes?�
Ursula consequently asked the leadership of the NDC especially incumbent NDC MP for the constituency, Fritz Baffour who also doubles as the Minister of Information to advise his party executives and their supporters to act with some sense of civility and shun what she described as �unnecessary provocation.�
This, according to her was due to the fact that it cost money, time and effort for the party to mount such paraphernalia.
She advised the perpetrators of this dastardly act to return those NPP flags before things get out of hand.
A resident of area who claims to have defected from the NDC to the NPP and was part of the group which went round to mount the NPP flags 6 weeks ago spoke to the paper.
Giving his name only as Neequaye he said �this country has been saddled with endless threats of war and we cannot afford any more of such deliberate and unwanted creation of trouble.
The youth of Chorkor intend to remove those flags and replace them with their own NPP flags; chief, that is what we now want; to hell with the NDC�s bribery of outboard motors, clothes, watches and others 6 months into elections. Bring Atta Mills and we will ask him of Rawlings.�
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