Cops Chase Konadu Boys

A planned demonstration by some disgruntled supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) against President John Evans Atta Mills and his government did no materialize yesterday because the demonstrators failed to turn up after the police had massed up, waiting for them. The demonstration, which was supposedly organized by James Kofi Amanmuo, an ardent supporter of Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, was to protest against �intimidation� and also �expose bribery scandals� in their own party in the run-up to the national delegates� congress in Sunyani that would elect a flagbearer for the NDC in 2012. Kofi Amanmuo said, �The one who took the bribe is a delegate. The bribe came from the Office of the President,� adding that the delegate was from the Central Region and the amount involved was GH�6,000. Kofi Amammuo said they were bent on proving that the Mills administration was superintending some corrupt practices that could destroy the party. They had planned to converge on and march from the NDC Headquarters to Parliament House and then to the Castle, the seat of government, to present their petition. Yesterday, as early as 6:15am, hoards of police officers with riot control gears and tankers were seen patrolling some principal streets of Accra, particularly the Ring Road Central, and later, the security agents converged on the Nima Divisional Command for a �showdown� with the demonstrators. The police had to wait at their �base� virtually the whole day for the demonstrators but there was no �action�. As at 1:30 pm, the men in black were still seen at the Nima Divisional Command awaiting the demonstrators. Later, Chief Inspector Kwaku Dompreh of the Accra Regional Police Public Affairs Unit confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that a letter dated June 13, 2011 and signed by James Kofi Amanmuo had been sent to them but the leadership of the demonstrators had refused to cooperate with the police on how the march was going to be like. He said the police were taking the necessary precautionary measures to protect life and property because Amanmuo had threatened to hit the streets with his gang without recourse to the Public Order Act. He said, �The police needed to sit down with the leadership of the demonstrators to define the route for the march, the time and other matters but they simply refused to cooperate with us. �They brought the letter alright but afterwards they told us point blank that they were not going to sit down with us to discuss the way forward even though they are bent on hitting the streets today,� Mr. Dompreh explained. �The letter brought to us lacked all the necessary ingredients spelt out in the Public Order Act and as law enforcers, we will not allow anybody or group to circumvent the law.� He said the police�s duty was to protect the public and they were ready to offer support to anybody or group that obeys the law, rules and regulations of the country, adding, �Once we have chosen to embark on a long democratic journey, we should all play our roles to make the country safe to live in.� He said the police had to withdraw all personnel who were on special duties in the region to join their colleagues to offer protection to the demonstrators who never turned up.