NDC Boys Attack Bus Stop...Over Chop Chop & Girlfriends

A GROUP OF ANGRY National Democratic Congress (NDC) foot-soldiers in Ashaiman yesterday hijacked the main bus terminal and allegedly confiscated revenue tickets and money from authorized operators. They accused the party chieftains of �chop-chop� and giving out juicy contracts to girlfriends. The incident, which started at about 5:45am, was said to be against the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Numo Addinortey Addison�s inability to bring development to the area since assuming office. It took a team of military and police personnel to restore calm at the terminal as daggers were drawn. Alhaji Mohammed Gomda, Ashaiman NDC Constituency Chairman, told journalists that the MCE had not listened to the cry of the �foot-soldiers� and the area was still undeveloped; a bad omen for the party as election was near. The action of the MCE was more likely to thwart the effort that some party members had made to ensure that the party would retain power in 2012. The chairman hoped that the �takeover� would curb all the problems the party faced in the area. He accused the MCE of awarding contracts to individuals in the area who had done nothing to return the party back to power. He mentioned a certain Hajia Muna as one of such persons as she was said to have been awarded several contracts in the constituency. �Why should Hajia Muna be looked after at the expense of competent party people? This sort of thing will surely send the NDC back into opposition if not stopped,� Gomda remarked. The chairman alleged that the contract for the operator of the bus terminal, Teri-White Company Limited, expired almost a year ago and therefore did not understand why the MCE renewed it without going through the due process. He alleged that the owner of the company was the MCE�s girlfriend. The MCE, he claimed, had surrounded himself with a certain tribal caucus that served as his advisory team, a situation which had created division in the constituency. Abdulai Abubakar, secretary of the Ashaiman NDC Taskforce Defense and leader of the irate youth, said they had waited for so long for jobs promised by the government, and with their patience now ran out, they had to resort to hijacking the terminal to earn a living. He denied that they had engaged any person in a scuffle but explained that they requested operators of the terminal to peacefully hand over the place to them. He alleged that operators of the bus terminal had so far given an amount of GH�10,000 to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) but the area had not seen any development. A secretary to Teri-White Company, Forzin Sanora Harrison, told DAILY GUIDE that the irate youth stormed his office demanding revenue tickets and the sales for that day. He had earlier declined to adhere to their request but had to quickly change his mind when he realized that some of his colleagues were running for their dear lives. He said although Teri-White�s contract with ASHMA had expired, the assembly asked his outfit to continue operating until they had evaluated tenders before the assembly and declared a new management. He said the incident was actually the third time the group had done so. He confirmed that his outfit had earlier lodged a complaint with police over the hijacking of the terminal. All efforts to reach the MCE failed as the paper�s calls went unanswered.