Tension is gradually mounting within the Ashaiman Municipality ahead of the government’s declaration of who becomes the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area.
Confusion rocked the Ashaiman NPP youth office at Tulaku, a suburb of Ashaiman when a group of young men angrily disrupted a scheduled press conference at the party office over the matter.
The angry youth who are alleged to be loyalists of the defeated NPP 2016 Parliamentary candidate Alhaji Yakubu Labarran stormed the party office few minutes to the start of the press conference and disrupted the exercise.
They kicked the chairs and tables arranged for the exercise and manhandled the organisers before locking up the office.
The disrupted press conference was organized by a group called Concerned Grassroot Members of the NPP in Ashaiman.
According to the well-built young men, there was no way they would allow such a press conference to hold anywhere in the constituency since such events are geared towards the promotion of other candidates vying for the position of MCE in the constituency.
“We shall not allow anybody in Ashaiman to organize any press conference anywhere in Ashaiman because it is an agenda to promote other potential candidates. The people of Ashaiman want Alhaji Labarran so we will not allow anybody to come and thwart our effort”
They angrily chanted that “Alhaji has done a lot for the party and we shall not allow his efforts to go waste”
They further noted that they will only agree for another person to become the MCE for Ashaiman if Alhaji Labarran is given another appointment elsewhere.
“If Alhaji is not given any appointment, we shall not allow anybody to get the position of MCE in Ashaiman. No Alhaji, No MCE”
They warned the party against the selection of a one-time former MCE Albert Okyere as the suitable nominee since they shall fiercely oppose his nomination.
“We don’t want Okyere and if the party dare brings him, we shall create total chaos in Ashaiman” they threatened.
The intended press conference which sort to call on the party hierarchy at both the constituency, regional and national level to be circumspect with their choice of candidate to be nominated as MCE for the area due to tension in the constituency was however truncated due to the confusion.
The press statement which was made available to Citi News stated that “We here believe that, in the selection of who becomes the MCE for Ashaiman, the party hierarchy must not just select anyone for the sake of it, but with all humility consider the inputs of those of us the downtrodden, the foot soldiers and the polling station executives since we are also stakeholders of our great Party the NPP”
It continued that: “We as Concerned Grassroot Supporters of the NPP in Ashaiman have heard of several names that are flying about in the constituency as potential MCE’S. But we are of the view that the party should not be in haste in its declaration but must try and do due diligence and consultation ahead of the selection in order not to lost touch with the grassroots and floating voters by announcing the wrong nominee.”
“Among the names we have heard, there are some who have really been with the party from its inception, some who have been with the party through thick and thin, some who have really suffered for the party and have helped to boost the image of the party in this constituency and continues to do so.”
“All these people deserves worthy of naming as MCE, but above all, we think the party must nominate a unifier who has worked with the party and can highly identify and recognize the grassroots members who also played diverse roles in the victory of the party”
The group argued that the selection of the MCE is not about self-interest, but about service to the people of Ashaiman and adding to the infrastructure base of the Ashaiman”
They appealed to the party to be guided by competence, hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the party as they choose who should become the MCE for the area.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
