Stories from Richard Attenkah
A section of the youth of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Tema Metropolitan area have openly rejected President John Dramani Mahama’s candidate for the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Isaac Ashia Odamtten.
The youth, who Tema File gathered, are footsoldiers and party activists, stormed the premises of the Assembly on Tuesday, sporting red T-shirts and arm bands to present a petition to the Presiding Member, Romeo Akahoho.
While in the process of delivering their petition to the PM, armed police personnel from the Tema Regional Police Command stormed the TMA premises and picked up some of the disgruntled NDC youth, according to eyewitnesses.
When the police later discovered that the leaders of the group were not among those they had arrested, let go of them and looked for the leaders, arrested and bundled them into one of their pick-ups, drove to the Regional Police Command and detained them.
Not long after their arrest, the news spread like wildfire throughout the Metropolis that leaders of the youth had been taken into police custody, but not long after news broke out again that the two leaders, Eric James Ocloo, aka Shoto Nero, and Prosper Idun, had been rescued party big shots, including some lawyers, prominent among them, James Enu, Tema Central parliamentary candidate of the party in the 2012 general elections, who followed them to the police headquarters to get bail for them.
Even though personnel from the Public Relations Department of the police declined to talk to the media on the issue, a source at the station confirmed to the paper that the two leaders were detained.
Meanwhile, the Tema Coordinating Committee of the party, comprising Tema West, Tema East and Tema Central, has congratulated President Mahama on his nomination of Isaac Ashia Odamtten as mayor of the TMA.
Members of the Committee hinted in a press release they issued in Tema on Tuesday that they were very much consulted and involved in the selection process leading to the nomination of the candidate.
“The committee is particularly delighted on the President’s decision to nominate one of the three aspirants, Isaac Odamtten, George Media and James Enu, contrary to earlier signals we were picking that all of them were going to be side-stepped for a relatively new person to be nominated,” the release stated.
The release continued; “As a Coordinating Committee, we remain united behind the President’s nominee, Mr. Odamtten, and are, therefore, calling on the rank and file of the party, especially, Mr. George Medie and lawyer James Enu, to quickly put the past behind them for the common good of Tema, and effective rolling of the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda.
“All party members are particularly cautioned not to do anything untoward, which has the tendency of disturbing the peace of the Metropolis. The security agencies have been subsequently alerted, and are ever-ready to deal with any such situation, should it arise in any part of the Metropolis.
“We further call on all assembly members, both elected and appointed, to unanimously endorse and cooperate with Mr. Odamtten to quickly roll out his plans for the Metropolis, in the face of the delay in nominating him to the position of mayor.”