The confusion at Sam George’s Ningo residence yesterday
Greater Accra Regional secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), together with some branch executives of the party in the Ningo Prampram Constituency and a Citi FM journalist were yesterday locked up in the residence of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Sam Nartey George, for nearly an hour.
According to Citi Fm’s Tema Correspondent, Elvis Washington, he was locked up together with all the party executives on the instructions of Mr Sam George as some heavily-built men believed to be land guards, threatened to beat them up.
The journalist said the party officials and branch executive members were in the house of the MP because some re-registration booklets that were to be handed over to the constituency executives from the national headquarters had been allegedly diverted at the MP’s house – a situation that did not go down well with the branch executives who stormed the house to demand explanation.
According to Washington, he together with the branch executives, were initially prevented from entering the premises, just when Sherry Ayitey, former Fisheries Minister, arrived with a team to deliver the booklets.
However, the delivery was halted after the branch executives had protested against it.
At this point, the former minister categorically stated that she was unable to deliver the booklets due to the confusion, and would take them back to the national headquarters.
The MP then called the former minister and other party executives into a meeting for about an hour in his house.
He said after the meeting, the branch executives were called into the house, where he (Washington) also joined.
“As soon as we entered, there were these land guards who locked up the gate behind us. Sam George was having issues with the Greater Accra Regional secretary, Victor Quarshie, and they were arguing seriously and the man was raising his voice saying that Sam George had attacked his personality, suggesting that he was nobody but for politics they are colleagues. And information I picked from the ground was that Sam George asked Quarshie to come and address the people, insisting that the branch executives were not invited to that meeting,” Washington averred.
This back and forth over whether or not the branch executives should be part of the meeting, escalated the confusion between the two men, and Quarshie opted to leave the house.
“So Quarshie said he was not going to tell the people any lies but the truth. So Quarshie opted to leave the house and we all decided to follow him because we sensed danger. When he got to the gate, upon the instructions of Sam George, they [land guards] said they would not allow us to leave. So we were all in there begging and there are sound bites I have to that effect. We pleaded with the land guards but they said they would not allow us unless Sam George instructed them to do so,” Washington narrated.
At this point however, Sherry Ayitey was outside the house.
When the police was called in to calm down tempers and rescue them from the house, they were eventually disregarded by the MP.
“The police then came in and spoke to the MP. But according to the police, Sam George damned them. In one of the sound clips, I was even begging the police to help us out of the house but they didn’t. The land guards only allowed the police to leave and locked us up again, and then we begged repeatedly before the MP finally allowed us to leave the premises,” Washington added.
Denial
When Mr Sam George was called on Eyewitness News, he flatly denied any such incident, saying he was not in the house and could not confirm such an incident.
When he was reminded that Citi News Correspondent had evidence of his presence in the house, Sam George said he was unaware, and that the journalist would have been trespassing, if indeed he was in his house.