Angry Mankraso youth lock up NPP office over Akufo-Addo hospital plan

Police in Mankraso in the Ashanti region has quelled disturbances after some youth forcibly locked the constituency office of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) last Tuesday.

The youths are angry that a planned construction of a hospital in Mankraso, the capital of the Ahafo Ano South district in the region, has been shelved.

The hospital is to be now cited at Kunsu. When they heard of a sod-cutting ceremony at Kunsu for construction work to begin, they went berserk.

Scores of them, believed to be NPP supporters, spontaneously stormed the Ahafo Ano South West constituency office of the governing party and locked the place.

They sacked party officials from the office and demanded answers to the change in plan.

But their anger was mostly directed at the District Chief Executive (DCE) Patrick Adusei who was not at the scene.

They say he caused the project to be diverted to Kunsu because that is his hometown.

The disgruntled group want the president to dismiss his appointee.

One of the leaders behind the protest, Kojo Collins, complained that this was not the first time Mankraso had been overlooked in the citing of critical social infrastructure.

He claimed, the judicial service post and a divisional police headquarters, have been cited at Kunsu instead of Mankraso.

Theghanareport.com spoke to the Mankranso police commander who confirmed Tuesday’s incident.

“Yes, it is true, and we are on it. We have invited [the youth] to see the way forward,” he said.

Police were locked up in a meeting with stakeholders as of Wednesday morning to resolve the impasse.

The hospital is one of 88 health facilities to be built across the country within 12 months.

Akufo-Addo promises 94 hospitals; 88 to be completed in one year

President Akufo-Addo announced the plan as part of efforts to deepen health care services in the wake of the country’s fight against the deadly coronavirus.

Other lock-ups in the past

The recent incident at Mankraso would not be the first time youth, usually supporters of the governing NPP,  have taken the laws into their hands to lock facilities.

• In June 2019, supporters of the party locked up the office of the National Sports Authority (NSA) in Tamale in the Northern Region,.

The group were opposed to the supposed reinstatement of the NSA Director, Salamatu Alhassan.

• Again in May 2019, some youth in the NPP at the Krachi West Constituency in the Volta Region locked the office of the District Chief Executive (DCE), Douglas Osei-Nti amidst calls for his dismissal.

They stormed the office of Mr Nti and requested he leaves the office over claims of non-performance.

• Similarly, in August 2017, a  group from the party in the Karaga Constituency of the Northern Region locked up the offices of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Karaga and the District Coordinating Director (DCD) to prevent the two officials from working.

This was due to disagreements between the DCE, who, until his appointment, was the constituency secretary of the NPP, and the then NPP constituency chairman.