A forceful takeover of the School Feeding Programme yesterday morning at Ejura in the Ashanti Region turned bloody when some youth activists believed to be New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters slugged it out.
Four people reportedly sustained gunshot wounds during the melee that occurred at the instance of the NDC activists who had gone to defend caterers of the programme at the various basic schools in the municipality.
The NDC youth activists, who were reportedly armed with guns, were said to have mounted roadblocks in an attempt to track down the NPP supporters, taking control of the town.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that it took the intervention of the law enforcement agents to restore law and order, whiles the NPP activists were also lurking in the schools to launch a reprisal attack.
The angry NPP youth stormed basic schools such as Anglican No. 1 Primary, TI Ahmadiyya Preparatory, TI Ahmadiyya Saboline and Dromankuma Anglican Basic, to stop the caterers from cooking for the pupils.
One of the, Bawa Fumakoshe, who confirmed the incident, told DAILY GUIDE that the caterers had been recalcitrant after they were reportedly told in plain language by the Municipal Coordinating Director of the Assembly to stop cooking for the children.
According to him, on Monday, January 10, 2017, he and some youth activists went to the Municipal Coordinating Director to inform the caterers that their contracts had come to an end and ought to stop cooking for the pupils.
He narrated that they received a feedback that the caterers – he branded as NDC folks – were adamant in ceding the programme to new caterers, and therefore decided to stop them yesterday.
“We took away the food – rice and beans – they had prepared with the hope that they would stop, but we were pelted with stones by NDC youth activists. Some of them went to block roads leading to the town and called others who came with guns,” Bawa stated.
He alleged that caterers in the NPP stock suffered a similar fate in 2009 when the NDC took over power, indicating that those whose cooking utensils were seized were made to pay GH?100.
“We’re not doing that. All we are asking them is to vacate their post for new caterers to take over from them. It’s simple,” he argued.
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Police Command is tight-lipped over the incident. Many attempts by the paper to elicit response proved unsuccessful.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi