John Mahama
The Hawks, a vigilante group of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was formed to provide protection for the party’s stalwarts, particularly former President John Mahama, have turned the heat on people they perceive to be against the former president who are vying for the flagbearership position of the party.
The Hawks physically attacked members of the Joshua Alabi Campaign Team, the Ashanti Regional chairman and regional secretary of the party in the presence of Mr. Mahama, who is touring the region.
Members of the Campaign Team of Joshua Alabi, presidential hopeful of the opposition NDC, said the Hawks were stalking them.
According to them, the well-built NDC hoodlums have been moving round campaign meeting grounds of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies to harass organisers of the meeting and some members of the party, who are believed to be loyal to Prof Alabi.
One of such incidents was said to have occurred in the Kpone-Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region last Saturday where some members of the Hawks attacked former Member of Parliament (MP) for La Dadekotopon, Nii Amasah Namoale, Victor Kojogah Adawudu and some coordinators of Joshua Alabi Campaign Team after a meeting with delegates.
The Hawks were said to have attempted to physically assault the programme coordinators for failing to pay for security service they had rendered.
However, it took the intervention of some executives in the constituency and some campaign members of Joshua Alabi to calm nerves after the campaign team coughed up GH?1,000 for the ‘macho men.’
Prof Alabi, in a facebook post, immediately after the incident, said that “we never invited the Hawks to protect us. They are being used to intimidate my team. This is unfortunate for our internal contest. What is this? Very sad!”
He entreated his campaign team not to be discouraged by the intimidation tactics adopted by the Hawks but remain steadfast for him to lead the party in the next general election.
He stated: “My people, don’t be discouraged. Focus on the delegates. It is well.”
Speaking in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, Israel Venunye, a special aide of Prof. Alabi, confirmed the incident and narrated that “after the event, the Hawks who were not invited claimed they had provided security for the meeting and therefore had to be paid.”
According to him, the incident occurred after Prof. Alabi had left the venue after interacting with the delegates.
Former National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (MP) for La Dadekotopon, Nii Amasah Namoale and Victor Adawudu, he mentioned, were the only people at the venue when the incident happened.
The special aide indicated that they were interacting with the delegates when the Hawks started pestering them for no reason.
According to him, the NDC’s vigilante group later changed their modus operandi and demanded an amount of GH¢1,000 under the pretext of providing security for those at the meeting.
“They demanded money and we paid them GH¢1,000 for their unsolicited, uninvited services before they left. This is wrong because Prof. Alabi’s team had its own security arrangements and therefore didn’t ask for the services of any other group.”
However, information gathered by DAILY GUIDE alleged that the Hawks had hatched the plan in consonance with some party stalwarts to follow Joshua Alabi’s campaign team to meetings under the pretext of providing security in order to disrupt the meetings for one particular opponent to gain an advantage.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema