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AN ATTEMPT by some residents of Sakumono Village in Tema, perceived to be National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters, to discredit Irene Naa Torshie Addo, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West, backfired yesterday. A group, dubbed �Concerned Citizens of Sakumono�, is suspected to have been sponsored by the NDC�s parliamentary candidate and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, to tarnish the image of the incumbent MP, Naa Torshie. At a press conference organized by the group, some leaders of the group were seen taking to their heels when they saw Naa Torshie entering the venue for the conference. The group had leveled several allegations against Naa Torshie, giving her 24 hours to answer them or else they would demonstrate against her. But minutes after the allegations were made, the MP stormed the press conference armed with documents to respond to the allegations. However, some of members of the group tried to attack her. Policemen from the Sakumono District Police Station, led by the District Police Commander, Superintendent Alex K. Wowolo, were called in to restore order when the incident nearly turned into a street fight between NPP and NDC supporters. Evans Kofi Senefiawo, spokesperson for the alleged Ofosu Ampofo sponsored group, and unit committee member in Wolei Electoral Area in Sakumono Village, who earlier addressed the press conference, said his main problem was a polyclinic Naa Torshie had failed to build. He claimed, �Our main aim of meeting the press today is to make it known to the people of Sakumono, voters of Tema West and Ghana at large on how our honorable Lady MP has consistently and still trying hard to deceive, misinform and to deliberately distort the facts in her bid to retain her seat in upcoming elections.� He added that Hon. Naa Torshie Addo, before becoming an MP, promised the constituents several developmental projects in 2008 but she failed to honour them. Naa Torshie, in an interview with a section of the media, said she arrived at the scene not to interrupt the press conference but to respond to the false allegations raised by the group who had given her 24 hours to respond or face protest. �If I have said something and it is not true, the way to react to it is to vote. I am at the land of my birth and I have served the people with all my heart,� she noted.According to her, she would not be deterred by �mafia tactics� adopted by her main opponent, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who she described as �Tema fugitive�. Ofosu Ampofo had contested at Fanteakwa Constituency in the Eastern Region where he was defeated twice in the last two elections. He is said to be seeking �refuge� in Tema where he is said to be using money to win votes. Touching on the polyclinic issue, Naa Torshie said the site for the land had been secured and leveled, with sponsors ready to invest in the construction of the polyclinic. She said a permit to start the construction was what had become an impediment, adding that Ofosu-Ampofo was using his links in government to stall the permit. She said: �I have brought this document to respond to the allegations. We have secured the land which we are going to put up a polyclinic and it is left with last permit to build the polyclinic.�