Tensions erupted at the Wa-Kpaguri office of the Upper West NDC Media Monitors on the afternoon of Friday, July 3, as a fierce dispute over a donated tricycle nearly turned physical and threatens to split the group.
Yiri News has been told the row centers on a tricycle donated more than a month ago by husband of Shamima Muslim and NDC financier Alhaji Alhassan Uthman Gbangu. Sources say repeated attempts to agree how the vehicle should be administered have repeatedly stalled, culminating in last Friday’s confrontation.
According to members who spoke to Yiri, the issue was first referred from a general meeting to the group’s executives and council of elders for final determination. The council in turn deferred the decision back to the executives. At the executives’ meeting, chairman Iddrisu Erasung reportedly recused himself and asked fellow executives to decide on the vehicle’s fate. Sources say no definitive executives’ meeting was held to resolve the matter.
The conflict boiled over during a sitting last Friday, convened ahead of a scheduled appearance by an aspiring Deputy Regional Secretary for the NDC. It was there that Secretary Hakeem Kamwine allegedly announced the executives had resolved to hand the tricycle to Chairman Erasung free of charge — with no monthly payments or compensation to the group. Treasurer Sandao Mangu immediately disputed that account, telling members no such agreement had taken place.
Insiders say Erasung has nonetheless taken possession of the tricycle and is currently using it. He has reportedly offered, if required, to make voluntary payments of ¢500 per month toward the group.
The announcement provoked a heated exchange that degenerated into near fisticuffs, with members hurling accusations of greed and “divide-and-rule” tactics at the leadership.
One source alleged that during a recent trip to Accra, executives collected large sums of money, sharing ¢4,000 each among themselves while giving other members only ¢500 under the pretext of limited sponsorship. The source also accused the Upper West regional chairman of gifting a motorbike to the Media Monitors’ chairman without informing members.
Simmering resentment, members warn, could produce public fallouts in the coming days as some have threatened to expose alleged underhand dealings.
The Media Monitors group previously fractured while the NDC was in opposition, producing a splinter organisation called Media Watch.
In an interview with Yiri News, Secretary Hakeem Kamwine conceded that executives had not met to reach a conclusive decision on administration of the tricycle and confirmed he had expressed personal interest in it. Kamwine, however, downplayed suggestions the fracas would cause a break-up, urging calm and internal resolution.
Please is that secretary Hakeem Kamwine ?
I thought Haki is secretary of media monitors