NDC Abandons NYEP Offices...But Refurbishes Its Regional Office

EXACTLY SIX months after National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth in Tamale, the Northern regional capital, embarked on a destruction spree, the destroyed state-owned structures have been left to rot. Whereas the party quickly mobilized funds to refurbish its regional secretariat which looks more luxurious than before, the offices of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have been left at the mercy of the bad weather. The structure was among dozens of properties destroyed by NDC youth following the acquittal and discharge of 15 persons accused of killing Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II. Daily Guide gathered that the building was constructed prior to the 2008 African Cup of Nation to serve as the regional secretariat for the Tamale venue but it was handed over to the NYEP after the tournament. The facility, fitted with air conditions and other ancillary facilities, was torched by NDC hoodlums over the Fast Track High Court�s decision. The leadership of the NDC however found it prudent to facilitate the refurbishing and facelift of their regional secretariat, fitting it with sliding doors and windows and rather abandoned the state-owned office. What was even mind-boggling, according to some residents, was the inability of the security agencies to arrest and prosecute those who perpetrated the act, as properties worth several thousands of cedis were destroyed. It is unclear where officials of the said office have relocated to. Officials of the ruling party in the region will not comment on the matter but deep-throat sources have told DAILY GUIDE that they claim it is not their duty to reconstruct the NYEP office. According to our source, they are expecting the metropolitan assembly to reconstruct the office. It would be recalled that the acquittal and discharge of 15 persons arrested for allegedly killing the late overlord of Dagbon Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II by an Accra High Fast Track Court in April this year sparked violence involving NDC youth in the Northern Region. The party�s youth, who accused the president and the party�s leadership of reneging on its promises to find the murderers of the chief, set the regional secretariat of the party and NYEP offices ablaze. They vandalized party property running into thousands of cedis and accused the party of using the Ya-Naa trial for its own gain rather than the main reasons.