NDC Youth Break Loose

SIX YOUTH groups in the Tamale metropolis are bracing themselves for a mammoth demonstration this week against the leadership of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern region. �We cannot hold our fire any longer. We must hit the streets and register our displeasure over the conduct of our leaders in the region,� they threatened. Earlier, the youth groups planned to embark on their street protest on Monday but the regional police command indicated that it did not have adequate personnel to provide them security. According to the command, its police personnel were currently on official duties elsewhere therefore it cannot grant the youth the required permit for the demonstration. Leaders of the six groups Daily Guide gathered are expected to meet the police to fix a definite date for the demonstration which sources say will be one of the biggest against the ruling NDC. Aljazeera, Poloyafong Buckers Association, Station Police Youth, Boglili Buckers Youth Association, Bukuri Soung Youth Association and the Aluta Boys Association will reportedly stage the demonstration. According to Abdulai Saani, Chairman of the Aluta Boys and leader of the amalgamated groups, the demonstration is to register their disillusionment with the NDC�s leadership in the region. The groups accused the party of neglect after they toiled to ensure that it won the 2008 elections and said only the leadership is benefitting from their hard work. It is against this background coupled with the unfulfilled promises of securing them jobs that the groups are embarking on the demonstration. According to the youth, several attempts to have the leadership of the party resolve their concerns amicably have fallen on deaf ears so their members have unanimously agreed that the demonstration is the only way to get their attention. The NDC regional hierarchy they said have had their needs duly met so they are no longer willing to fight for the youth warning that the 2012 election was at hand. They warned that the NDC stands the chance of losing the 2012 election if it fails to address the numerous grievances of the youth who make the region the ruling party�s World Bank. The latest outbursts of aggrieved NDC youth come less than a fortnight after a group calling itself the Tamale Central Youth Coalition, an offshoot of the same party, rebelled against the Acting NDC Regional Chairman, Sofo Awudu Azorka, accusing him of endangering the fortunes of the party. The group had accused him of greed to the detriment of the party�s structures alleging that he had become an auctioneer overnight. It described him as a tyrant who was more interested in amassing wealth in the face of the poverty suffered by most of the youth. Zuberu Shanunu, Secretary of the aggrieved youth was particularly saddened that the NDC chairman had allegedly exhibited gross disrespect to well known opinion leaders in the area who were sympathetic to the cause of the party. The scribe observed that having been bequeathed a well structured party by his predecessor, the late Alhaji Sumani Zakari, Azorka had allegedly ensured that the current NDC was no longer strong enough to get a one-time victory in the 2012 elections in the region. When contacted, Mr. Azorka expressed regret over the conduct of the party�s youth in recent times accusing some persons within the party of masterminding the youth agitations for personal gain. According to him, the NDC youth may have legitimate concerns but the manner they were going about it was wrong and smacks of ridiculing the NDC to the masses. He promised to look into the concerns raised in order to foil the impending demonstration and appealed to the leadership of the youth groups to rethink their decision. �My brother party work is full of sacrifices; no one is paid for the jobs done,� he lamented.