NPP and NDC flags
HELL BROKE loose at the chamber of the Western Regional House of Chiefs in Sekondi last Thursday when supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who gathered there to witness a debate by parliamentary aspirants in the Sekondi constituency nearly engaged each other in fisticuffs.
Three candidates, Papa Owusu-Ankomah of the NPP, Capt. (Rtd) Anthony Cudjoe of the NDC and Ahoah Henry Solor of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), engaged in a three-hour debate to lay bare their policies on education, agriculture, job creation, the environment, fishing, oil and gas and coastal development among others.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that in the course of the debate, supporters of the two leading political parties at the event made some unsavory comments against each other resulting in the scuffle that brought the programme to an abrupt halt.
The paper gathered that security personnel present had a hectic time controlling supporters of the two parties and had to call for reinforcement.
Both Papa Owusu-Ankomah and Capt. Cudjoe, who is also the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), had to be whisked away into one of the rooms for their safety.
They later came back to the hall, shook hands in the presence of the people and were made to pledge their commitment to peace.
In an interview with the paper, Emmanuel Gordon, an NDC activist in Sekondi and Special Assistant to the NDC candidate confirmed the incident and blamed the NPP Sekondi constituency communication officer, one Paa Mensah for causing the commotion.
He said during the debate, the NPP activist insulted Capt. Cudjoe over a comment the NDC candidate made on an issue.
He indicated that some NDC supporters sitting close to the NPP communicator overheard the remarks and angrily rushed on him, asking him to retract his statement.
“In the process, supporters of both the NDC and NPP flared up and nearly turned the venue into a boxing ring. This situation temporarily halted the event as other supporters outside the chamber joined the brawl,” he said.
When contacted, Paa Mensah denied all the allegations leveled against him.
He explained that a question was asked as to how the candidates would initiate moves to ensure that the people in Sekondi benefitted from the oil and gas revenue and the MCE answered by saying the country was already benefiting from the oil revenue and cited some projects in the Volta region.
According to Mensah, after listening to the response from the NDC candidate, he told a colleague who was sitting by him that Capt Cudjoe was confused in his mind because he should not be citing projects in the Volta region while the moderator was asking about the oil revenue in Sekondi.
He said out of the blue, supporters of the NDC who were also sitting near him got up and started insulting him while others nearly exchanged blows with some NPP supporters, leading to chaos at the debate.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi