NDC In Street Fight

WITH JUST a day before they vie for the New Juaben South parliamentary slot in the Eastern Region, on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), supporters of the two main �rival� parliamentary aspirants for the constituency engaged in an open fight in front of the constituency office at Koforidua on Wednesday afternoon. This caused a huge traffic jam and attracted large spectators who cheered them on as they traded �heavy� blows. The fight was said to have started at the constituency office of the party and spilled over to the street in front of the office, thus causing heavy traffic on the already busy intersection of the Koforidua municipality. During the vetting of the candidates at the regional headquarters in August this year, supporters of the two aspiring candidates, Ransford Owusu-Boakye and Dr Kwaku Owusu Acheampong, clashed and traded insults. Janet Dede, a supporter of Ransford Owusu Boakye, claimed one William Asamoah Afoakwa, popularly called Kofi Willie, a supporter of Dr Kwaku Owusu-Acheampong, had used �an offensive word� to describe her private part during the �cross-fire�. According to Janet Dede, Kofi Willie told her, in the course of exchange of words between the two groups on the day of vetting, that she had a �stinking vagina� and was a prostitute. Janet Dede, who was offended by Kofi Willie�s demeaning insult, waited for the right time to confront him and the right time was Wednesday afternoon when both of them met at the constituency office at Koforidua. According to DAILY GUIDE sources, Dede and other supporters of Ransford Owusu Boakye, who were wearing their candidate�s �T� shirt, were in the party�s office on Wednesday afternoon when Kofi Willie popped up. Immediately he entered, Dede confronted Kofi Willie to tell the whole office when and where he slept with her which enabled him to determine that she had a �stinking vagina�. Before Kofi Willie could say Jack, Dede, a well-built lady in her thirties, pounced on him and with the support of other ladies in the office, she started beating up Kofi Willie. Kofi Willie fought back as a man. The fight became intense and spilled over to the street in front of the office, with the woman having an upper hand during the fight. The open fight attracted a large number of spectators and blocked traffic flow, causing great inconvenience to commuters plying between the central business district and Adweso. It took the intervention of a policeman who was stationed at the market traffic light for the two groups to be separated. The two combatants were hauled to the Central Police Station for fighting in the street and causing nuisance to commuters. They were made to write their statements, after which party officials came to bail them. DAILY GUIDE had reported about the trading of insults and virtual blows, at the vetting, between opposing supporters from New Juaben South, New Juaben North, Kade and Suhum. Party officials in New Juaben South took great offence at the report, saying that there was no such �fight� between supporters of the two rival candidates. Supporters of Dr Owusu Acheampong said Owusu Boakye was an illiterate who did not qualify to go to parliament while Owusu Boakye�s supporters also described Dr Owusu Acheampong as a �latter-day saint� who wanted to reap where he did not sow. Tomorrow�s election is expected to deepen the cracks among the supporters.