The Ejisu NDC taskforce members locking the NHIA manager’s office on Monday
THE OFFICE of the Ejisu-Juaben District Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has been locked up to prevent him from carrying out his duties.
Drama unfolded when members of the Ejisu National Democratic Congress (NDC) Taskforce stormed the NHIA office in Ejisu to lock the place up, amid threats of violence and bloodshed, on Monday.
The agitated NDC hoodlums took the decision in strong protest against the appointment of someone, they claimed to be an outsider, as the manager the Ejisu-Juaben NHIA office.
Wearing red bands and singing war songs to display their displeasure and fury, the Ejisu NDC Taskforce members were seen openly locking the NHIA manager’s office with woods and nails.
Their action was captured on video and it has since gone viral. In the video, they vowed to continue agitating until the new NHIA boss is replaced with a known NDC member in the area.
According to them, the immediate-past NHIS manager of Ejisu-Juaben hailed from the area so he witnessed how they (NDC Taskforce) worked to help the party to win power in 2024.
They said they would have benefited from the previous NHIS manager because he was aware of the crucial roles that they played to help the NDC recapture political power in 2024.
The NDC goons said appointing an ‘alien’, who doesn’t hail from Ejisu to head the NHIS was an indication that their efforts would be in vain as the new person wouldn’t support them.
“We the members of the Ejisu NDC Taskforce worked tirelessly to help the NDC to win power. After the victory, we were expecting the party to appoint natives of this area to key positions.
“The outgoing NHIA boss for Ejisu-Juaben is from this area so he saw how we helped the party to win power. Such a person if we go to him for help, he cannot turn his back on us.
“We don’t know what happened, such a person has been transferred to a different area and someone, who is not from Ejisu-Juaben, and doesn’t know our efforts for the NDC has been appointed.
“Are they trying to tell us that there are no qualified or educated people in Ejisu-Juaben to head the NHIS office?” a leading member of the Ejisu NDC Taskforce, asked angrily.
He continued that the Ejisu NDC Taskforce don’t have issues with other workers of the NHIA in the area, but they would never allow the newly appointed NHIA boss in Ejisu-Juaben to work.
“We helped NDC to win power and we were hoping that our own party people here in this community would be appointed to take care of the NDC grassroots, who have worked for the party.
“How can we benefit from him? he doesn’t know our tireless efforts for the party so the new NHIS manager should go, we don’t like him”, another member of the Ejisu NDC Taskforce also stated.
It will be recalled that in February, some executives of NDC in the Tema Central Constituency of the Greater Accra Region locked up the offices of the NHIA in protest against what they described as unfair and exclusionary appointment processes. The action was led by Constituency Chairman, Benjamin Djakumah.
According to the executives, the appointments were made without consultation and overlooked several qualified party members in Tema Central.
Chairman Djakumah said the constituency leadership is deeply unhappy with what he described as a recurring pattern of sidelining grassroots executives who worked tirelessly for the party’s success.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Kumasi