Alan’s Agent Punctured Eye Can’t Open, Pupil Shifted
-Specialist Diagnosis Reveals
Details have emerged that the polling agent for Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, in the just-ended Super Delegates Congress of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who was allegedly assaulted and punched in one eye, is on the verge of losing his sight.
According to the campaign team, the affected eye of Ali Zakaria, which went blank and closed immediately after the attack on him, has still not been opened, as the pupil, the black opening in the middle of the eye, has shifted from its original position.
Pictures of Ali at the hospital, sighted by The Anchor, showed the victim being examined, while Mr.Kyerematen and his team looked on, with shock and sadness.
Deputy spokesperson for Alan’s campaign, Richard Nyamah, disclosed that the victim’s eye, after examination, was very bloody, but, luckily, the veins did not burst as that could have meant a bigger blow.
“The diagnosis is that the pupil has shifted from its position and the eye is so bloody, there is a lot of blood in the eyes, but we were lucky none of the veins did burst,” he said.
Mr. Nyamah, who revealed this on TV3’s Ghana Tonight programme on Tuesday August 29, said this came to light when the victim was transported to Accra, where the team has sought a quick attention from a specialist, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, near the Tesano Police Station, to examine the punctured eye.
“They have given some medication that in good time the eye should clear,” he told the host, Alfred Ocansey.
The victim, who was the North East Regional agent for Team Alan, was allegedly attacked by the party’s regional youth organizer, Mumuni Mohammed Nurudeen, during the Super Delegates Congress.
The victim, in an interview, narrated the event leading to his attack, saying the incident was needless.
He said he was assaulted after he raised the concern of some of the delegates and executives displaying their vote before putting them in the ballot box, an action which is forbidden by the party and the Electoral Commission (EC).
Ali, who is also receiving additional healthcare from the AIMS Hospital in Accra, describing vividly how the confusion erupted to journalists, said he was attacked by Mumuni Mohammed Nurudeen with a plastic chair, injuring his eye, hands, face and other parts of his body.
“They voted in groups. The first group was led by the MP for Walewale…. she came and voted and displayed her vote. So, I complained to the police commander and the EC in charge, but I saw that they played adamant, they didn’t want to listen to me.
“They regional minister also followed up, he voted and did not display his vote… The third person was the regional youth organizer, he voted and displayed his vote. So, I confronted him and told him that ‘my brother that is not the rule of the game.’ We are told that no one should use a phone to snap when you vote. Secondly, we have been told that no one should vote and display his vote. When I said this, he picked a plastic chair and hit me,” he said.
Speaking after witnessing the assessment, the former trade and industry minister, who placed third in the last Saturday’s election, said the attack at the Nalerigu Senior High School constitutes a dent on the image of the NPP.
““I mean, look, we all joined the NPP because of our commitment to the values of our party, but what is happening clearly shows that this is not what we bargained for.
“I’m not going to tolerate this kind of behaviour, it doesn’t make sense and when we cannot conduct ourselves as a family trying to select a leader in a peaceful and organised manner, how do we intend to be able to do the same kind of process when we have two hundred thousand plus people gathered?” the former minister wondered.
He challenged the NPP to “put a shine on this kind of incident,” adding that he was frankly disturbed about the incident.
The veteran NPP flagbearer aspirant secured no vote in the North East Region, where the vice president, who came first, comes from. In that region, delegates were only 28.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview, the deputy spokesperson for Alan Kyerematen, accused the leadership of the NPP of meting out selective justice.
According to Mr.Nyamah, since Ali Zakaria, who is also described as the North East regional coordinator of the Alan Kyerematen campaign team, was assaulted, the party is yet to reach out to the victim or condemn the violence that erupted.
He said the actions and inaction of the party are sending a clear message that those on the Alan team are unwanted. He said, as at Tuesday evening, no party executive had reached out to either the campaign team or Ali Zakaria to sympathize.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story, he said, “Do you realize since this incident happened, it’s been four days? Have you heard or seen any condemnation officially from the NPP as a party? The NPP as a party has officially not reached out to us, not the agent that was beaten to pulp and his eye virtually bulged out, nobody has bothered because it doesn’t matter, it has happened to an Alan agent.”
He said the party has managed to reach out to persons whom it accuses of breaching party regulations through their utterances captured on social media and on television, and hauled them before a disciplinary committee.
However, despite the widespread reportage on the violence that erupted in the North East region, the same party has failed to even speak to it or invite known culprits for sanctions.
“If it was someone else’s agent, we will hear about it. But the party is calling people, look, let me point it out to you, Kennedy Agyapong was called to the disciplinary committee based on what they saw on TV or some social media, right? Hopeson Adorye was hauled there because of what they’ve seen or heard on social media right?
“This [the attack on the agent] also played out in the main media and social media, culprits are there, they know that the youth organizer and the national coordinator nearly lynched this guy and somehow nobody is bothered because they are Alan’s people.
“And the persons who perpetrated this were the vice president’s people. So, there is selective justice here. So, we have realized that the party doesn’t seem to be bothered about us,” he said.
Source: Anchorghana.com
