NDC, NPP OFFICES, SCENES OF SHOCK (PAGE 16)

THE former Northern Regional office of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Tamale was a scene of wailing and shock by market women whose wares were gutted by fire following an act of suspected arson on the office structure yesterday morning.
Even though the NDC relocated to a new office building near the Workers College a couple of years ago, the party symbols are still embossed on the old office structures where some notable NDC and New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathisers gather to interact.
The former office, which is located very close to the Aboabo Market, has virtually been turned into a warehouse for some of the market women who keep their wares there at the end of the day for safety.
Madam Abibata Iddrisu, who looked distressed, described the situation as most unfortunate. ‘‘I have lost all my wares in the structure and at the moment I cannot put my thoughts together for the way forward.’’
There were neither any reported incidents of casualties nor had there been any arrest in connection with the incident.
The arson followed an earlier one on a New Patriotic Party (NPP) structure and the destruction of NDC sheds around the former Victory Cinema. Both NDC and NPP supporters in the area have accused each other of starting the violence.
The hostility between followers of the two parties began on Sunday evening after the NPP Vice-Presidential hopeful, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, had addressed a rally at the Tamale Jubilee Park.
Both party supporters were spotted earlier in the day, in ecstatic mood, wearing their respective party paraphernalia in ecstatic moods. While the NPP followers were welcoming their Vice-Presidential nominee, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, into the metropolis from Bolgatanga in the Upper East
Region, their NDC counterparts were also inaugurating an Atta Mills and John Mahama Fan club outside the Kaladan Park.
According to the NPP, a bus carrying some supporters of the party home after the rally was pelted with stones by a group of young men they alleged were NDC boys. The NDC has, however, denied the accusation and claimed that it was the NPP that began the provocation.
In the ensuing misunderstanding they destroyed each other’s sheds while a number of motorbikes were burnt in the process. There were also sporadic shootings in the central business district. A number of persons were reported to have sustained injuries.
The situation also brought social and commercial activities in the central business district to a halt as people were seen rushing home.
The incident, which began around 7p.m. at the central business area, lasted for about an hour until the arrival of security personnel. Life has bounced back and commercial and business activities are going on in earnest.
Some people however, attributed the incident to a spillover of the clash between the NDC and NPP at Kpatinga in the Gushiegu District in the Northern Region earlier on Sunday.
The NDC supporters were said to be returning home after erecting a party shed at a suburb of the town amidst fanfare when they clashed with a group of NPP supporters resulting in some injuries.