Thursday’s nationwide filing of nomination forms by presidential and parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2016 general elections saw a rare public shower of the Ghana Cedi notes by the parliamentary candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC) for Bolgatanga Central, Thomas Akurugu. The 44-year-old chartered accountant, moments after submitting his forms at the office of the Electoral Commission (EC) in Bolgatanga, stood within the sunroof of a black Tundra pickup and, without a break, fetched and threw cash from there at a jubilant crowd of party supporters and casual observers. Before then, he had floated above a sea of heads, held in the air by a web of arms from a crowd that carried him like a celebrated monarch into the EC’s office to tender his forms. The fetch-and-throw moments sparked hard-hitting collision among the crowd in a rush for cash as the fresh notes rained down, largely in the one-cedi denomination, in a measure of tons astonished observers compared to the falling confetti that often greet the lifting of a champions’ league trophy. The aspiring Member of Parliament, who also showered money on bystanders and traders as he wheeled through the streets of the capital in the company of men and women wearing PNC-branded paraphernalia amid heavy drumming and spirited dance, told a mini-rally crowd at the Golden Jubilee Park the time had come for the constituents to vote for a true pathfinder. “They’ve taken you for granted. Tell them this time that the power is here (in the voters’ hands). Think positively before you vote. Don’t vote because Thomas is PNC, NPP or NDC. Vote because Thomas is your son, your father, somebody who takes your problem up there (pointing in the direction to Parliament) and brings them back. “I am capable. Tell them your yes is your yes. Money or no money, you are voting for Thomas Akurugu. Let’s join hands together to follow me to the Promised Land,” the candidate said as the crowd cheered back in the party’s slogan- “Too sure! Too direct!” Disgruntled NDC supporters spotted at PNC rally The sharp division within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Bolgatanga Central appears to only be deepening by the day. The conflict is deeply rooted in some strong verbal attacks and counterattacks seen especially among the camps of three aspirants- Isaac Adongo, Emmanuel Opam-Brown (the sitting MP) and Abraham Amaliba- in the buildup to the party’s parliamentary primaries conducted late in 2015. In the aftermath of the internal election, which Isaac Adongo won with 4,290 votes, supporters of Mr. Amaliba, who polled 3,052 votes, and the camp of Mr. Opam-Brown, who obtained 2,956 votes, openly vowed to vote “massively” against Mr. Adongo at the major elections scheduled for December, this year. Whilst Mr. Amaliba is said to have repeatedly encouraged his disappointed loyalists to vote for the parliamentary candidate, his followers are reported to be bent on doing the opposite. And they clearly affirmed that position when scores of well-known NDC members, identified to be Mr. Amaliba’s admirers, were spotted in PNC-branded souvenirs at Thursday’s rally. The disgruntled NDC supporters, who said they had not defected to the PNC, participated fully in Thursday’s submission of the PNC forms, the street float and the mini-rally with the same passion they had always exhibited at NDC events before the internal rift came about. “We cannot give our votes to Isaac and we won’t also give it to NPP. We are going to vote for Thomas in the parliamentary and for President John Mahama in the presidential. Isaac Adongo’s supporters only insult and fight. They are not ready for any unity,” a member of Amaliba’s camp, who does not want his name mentioned for fear of attacks, told Starr News from among the mini-rally crowd. The latest development comes just about 12 hours after Amaliba had told the media that Adongo had recommended his removal from the campaign team for the consAccountant sprays cash for votes as PNC, NDC clashAccountant sprays cash for votes as PNC, NDC clash
