The District Chief Executive (DCE) for West Mamprusi, Laud Sulley Abudu Zakaria’s decision to run out of his district in the early hours of Wednesday January 5, 2011, saved him from being lynched or maimed by some angry foot-soldiers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
But a member of the group warned: “We will chase the DCE anywhere we meet him.” The fuming foot-soldiers, who were wielding sharp implements and clubs, marched, alongside some leading members and constituency executives of the party, through the streets of Walewale, as they chanted war songs and openly insulted the DCE amidst threats that they would cause harm should they meet him in or outside his office.
The angry NDC faithful, numbering over 500, matched to the office of the West Mamprusi District Assembly with the intention of forcing their way into the office of the DCE, Laud Sulley Abudu Zakari, but came against a strong opposition from about 40 armed police officers who had stormed the district from Tamale.
A police source also told DAILY GUIDE that the DCE had lost the support and cooperation of the District Police Management and personnel, due to the continuous humiliation and insults he piled on them. The same applied to other key security personnel in the district.
A petition presented to the District Coordinating Director, Alhassan Ziblim Al-Hassan, for onward submission to the Regional Minister and other stakeholders demanded the immediate removal of the DCE from office.
The party members and executives, in that petition, resolved that the official Nissan Navara pick-up being used by the DCE should be parked before the close of work on January 5, 2011. Failure to do this, they warned, would result in serious consequences for the party, as the Executives had sworn to withdraw their services until an action was taken against the DCE.
Spokesperson for the group, Sulemana Mutaka, said the various youth groups of the party in the district had been very calm in the face of several provocations and gross disrespect toward the Constituency Executives and other leading members in the West Mamprusi district because of their loyalty to the NDC.
“Mr. Sulley Abudu Zakaria does not deserve to be a leader, nor a representative of a political party, because he does not have the qualities that can attract more followers and to unite them for development. That aside, the man has had problems everywhere he was sent to, as a teacher or headmaster and he has openly disrespected some chiefs in the district. This person cannot lead us to any campaign, due to the bad image he has created for himself, resulting from his mischievous activities at places where he ever served as a teacher and head teacher.
“We have sent some petitions about the behaviour of our DCE and the way he is making the party unpopular in this district, and yet no action has been taken against him. No wonder he goes round bragging that he has bought his position from the regional to the national level of the party.”
He alleged that within a short period of being at post, Abudu Zakaria had had so much money that he bragged that if he was removed from office and his official car taken from him, he would buy a new Nissan Navara pickup and also build a mansion in either Kumasi or Accra and relocate there.
“By this, the President and whoever took the decision to put him there should know by now that he does not have the party at heart. We will keep quiet and we will see what will happen to the party in the district in 2012, but before then, we will not allow the DCE to enjoy from our sweat: Yes, we defied all threats and fears and campaigned seriously for the party,” the enraged man added in the presence of the demonstrators.
This latest demonstration was the first this year but the second in the district in a matter of less than seven months.
There was a counter demonstration in the same district last year but alarm blew when the organizers soon complained that the DCE had failed to pay them an amount of GH¢2,500 out of a promised GH¢5000, they agreed upon.