NPP, NDC Supporters On Rampage At Winneba

…Destroying Campaign Billboards And Posters Of Candidates

Political tension, appears to have heightened in Winneba in the Effutu Constituency, with supporters of the two main political parties on rampage, resorting to vandalizing campaign billboards and defacing campaign posters of their opponents.

Several posters and billboards, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, Dr James Kofi Annan and those belonging to the Majority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP), Alexander Afenyo-Markin, have been defaced and destroyed.

The unfortunate development, The Anchor gathered, occurred during the weekend, after the NDC Parliamentary candidate’s campaign billboards, were allegedly pulled down on the orders of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Effutu, Alhaji Kasim Zubeiru.

The billboards, were pulled down at an area called Klimovic by individuals purporting to be from the Municipal Assembly without notice to the NDC candidate and his team, whiles another one with a picture of NDC flagbearer and Kofi Anna, was also cut down at New Winneba.

The billboard, which had been mounted to promote the NDC’s candidates in the upcoming elections, was taken down under unexplained circumstances, a development that has sparked controversy within the local political landscape.

But less than 12hours after that incident, billboards of the sitting MP, Afenyo-Markin, were also pulled down, in what is believed to be a reprisal attack.

The incident, which has been widely circulated on social media, shows individuals believed to be NDC supporters, vandalising the billboard of Majority Leader, who is the sitting MP on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This act of retaliation, has sparked concerns about the rising political atmosphere in the constituency as the 2024 elections approach.

Eyewitnesses reported that, the removal of the NDC candidate’s billboard by the MCE, was seen as a provocative act, leading to the subsequent destruction of the Majority Leader’s billboard.

The situation, has prompted calls for calm and restraint from both political parties to prevent further escalation.

However, there is no official communication from both parties, regarding the ensuing tensions in the constituency.

This is not the first time the issue of pulling down campaign billboards is emerging.

Earlier, the John Mahama Campaign team, issued a strong caution to the NPP, against provocative acts, stating that the NDC, will not tolerate such occurrence.

The statement, follows deliberate attempts to deface or block Mahama’s campaign billboard in the Tema central constituency.

A statement signed by Joyce Bawa Mogtari was in reaction to the Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s (TMA) directive for the pulling down of a billboard of John Dramani Mahama, mounted by Alliance Media in Tema.

It described the act as ‘unacceptable’ and, constitutes a needless provocative attempt to raise the political temperature in the country.

The statement further noted that Alliance Media, a legally registered Ghanaian advertising business, has the rightful permission to mount Out-of-Home (OOH) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) sites nationwide.

Ghana is expected to go to the polls on December 7,2024, to elect a new president and members of parliaments.

Source: Anchorghana.com