General News of Sunday, 7 August 2011

Source: Daily Guide

31st Woman Dupes NDC Women

INFORMATION REACHING DAILY GUIDE indicates that a promise made by a member of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) in Sekondi has turned out to be a scam.

The 31st DWM member was reported to have promised to provide loans to about 1,200 female members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Shama constituency after allegedly collecting GH¢10.00 from each of them.

A reliable source with the Shama constituency NDC told DAILY GUIDE that after allegedly collecting the money in Shama, the suspect has absconded.

The source added that a committee had been set up by party executives in the constituency to investigate the allegation and have the accused person brought to book.

Jacob Ansah, NDC Shama Constituency Youth Organizer, who is also chairman of the committee tasked to look for the alleged fraudster, confirmed the report during an interview with the paper. He gave the name of the purported swindler only as Winifred.

He noted that Winifred, a staunch member of the 31st December Women’s Movement in the Sekondi constituency approached some women in the area about five months ago and allegedly deceived them into believing that the NDC would to give them some loans. The woman who stayed at Bakaekyir near Sekondi then asked the women to contribute GH¢10 each, he said.

Without alerting their constituency executives, the NDC women in Shama spread the false information to other women party members in communities like Asemasa, Anto and Dwoma among others all in the Shama constituency.

He said in all about 1,200 women who were informed about the supposed loan contributed GH¢10 each to Winifred with the hope of securing it.

Ansah added that somewhere last week, a section of the women in the area went to the NDC constituency office to enquire about the money after realizing that they were not getting the loans.

He indicated after listening to their story, the executives realized that the women had been duped by Winifred since no one had instructed anybody to collect money from them to secure them loans.

Ansah told DAILY GUIDE that some NDC elders in the Shama constituency were sent to Sekondi to search for Winifred immediately but could not find her.

Up to date nobody knows the whereabouts of the alleged fraudster and an official complaint has been made to executives of the 31st DWM in Sekondi, he noted.

Asked whether the case had been reported to police, Ansah answered in the negative explaining that the constituency executives wanted to wait for the outcome of the complaint made to the Sekondi branch of the movement.

Meanwhile, Araba Tagoe, Deputy NDC Western Regional Women’s Organizer has described the purported fraudulent act by Winifred as unfortunate.

She also blamed the women for not informing their executives about Winifred’s demand before contributing the money.

Speaking about the case on Kyzz Fm in Takoradi, Madam Tagoe indicated that all measures were being taken by the NDC regional executives to arrest Winifred.