Blows Over JJ’s Boy

Michael Teye Nyaunu THE PARISH Hall of the Catholic Church at Agormanya, near Odumase-Krobo in the Lower Manya District of the Eastern Region, was turned into a boxing arena on Wednesday as two factions of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) traded blows over a press conference intended to call the MP for the area, Michael Teye Nyaunu, to order. Just as David W. Hormenu, spokesperson for the group made up of NDC activists and some concerned citizens backed by some assembly members, took the podium to introduce the personalities on the high table, an NDC vice chairman in the Lower Manya Constituency, Mark Nyamidi, grabbed the microphone from him to question the authority on which they were holding the press conference. He therefore said he was not going to allow the press conference to take place since he as the vice chairman was not informed about the intended press conference. Just as he finished his statement, the group he came with, allegedly sympathetic to the cause of the MP, 'charged' on the organizers in a free-for-all fight as they hurled chairs in the air. Journalists who had been invited to the press conference had to run for cover, leaving the two factions to sort things out in a fierce brawl. Later, the anti-Nyaunu faction re-grouped and converged on S.G. Lodge at Odumase where they secretly invited the journalists for their press conference. By the time the pro-Nyaunu group heard about it, the anti-Nyaunu faction had already finished the press conference. In their press statement, the anti-Nyaunu group chastised their MP for having a loose tongue and openly criticizing his own government. The group described as very irresponsible, Hon. Nyaunu’s recent criticism of the government’s ‘over-ambitious’ budget and the fact that Mills' government is too slow. “We wish to say that our MP is attempting to blame his non-performance in Parliament and in the constituency on the government in order to win cheap popularity”, the group said. They therefore asked him to resign from both the party and Parliament if he is not ready to support his party. The group also asked the government to investigate allegations that the MP diverted relief items meant for victims of the recent flood at Kpong in the Constituency. From Thomas Fosu Jnr, Odumase-Krobo