Supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Upper Manya Krobo engaged in fisticuffs over the use of equipment from the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
The chaos broke out after the NDC supporters stormed a hotel owned by the NPP parliamentary candidate, Joseph Tetteh, and found motor graders, and bulldozers parked on the premises instead of the district assembly.
The machines, part of the recently launched DRIP, were decorated with banners and posters of the NPP parliamentary candidate and their flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Angered by what they described as politicising government equipment, the NDC supporters attempted to remove the NPP paraphernalia.
Supporters of the NPP also mobilised to stop them.
The situation, however, escalated when some heavily built men wielding weapons began attacking the NDC supporters.
The police had to intervene to keep the situation from escalating further.
The DRIP initiative was launched by President Akufo-Addo on July 31, 2024, to enhance Ghana’s road network by decentralising road infrastructure development and addressing challenges facing metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
It was designed to empower MMDAs with the resources and equipment necessary to rehabilitate and maintain roads within their various jurisdictions and effect meaningful changes.
As part of the initiative, 2,240 units of road equipment including motor graders, backhoes, rollers, wheel loaders, bulldozers, water tankers, concrete mixers, tipper trucks, low beds and other essential machinery were distributed to all MMDAs.
They were acquired through a collaboration between the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
Source: The Ghana Report
