Members of a pro-NPP group called the Guts and Zeal Association (GAZA), have denied claims by Ho Central Constituency Secretary of the governing party that chairman of the group, Seidu Adamu, acted alone when he said the party had neglected them.

According to the group, Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa and the regional party executives have failed to provide them with jobs, as they promised in the lead-up to the 2016 elections.

Chairman of GAZA, Adamu told Class91.3FM in an interview that they played a major role in protecting ballot boxes and patrolling the Ghana-Togo border to ensure that non-Ghanaians were prevented from taking part in the polls.

In his estimation, the party will suffer dire consequences in 2020 if it continues to neglect GAZA.

Reacting to the claims, the NPP’s Ho Central Constituency Secretary, Mr Doe, accused Mr Adamu of being on a lone mission to court disaffection for the party.

“There are members, as I said, in GAZA who are NPP,” he admitted, adding: “We spoke to Seidu Adamu that he has not written any official letter to the party so far as your problems are concerned, and he said that we should know the problems he is having as an individual. So, you see that it has to do with an individual interest rather than the group interest. So, if he is having problems, it is better he approaches the constituency executives rather than going public”.

But members of GAZA in a statement said Mr Adamu is not acting alone but speaks for the group.

“GAZA Boys wants to state categorically clear that as a group, we are solidly behind our Chairman, Seidu Adamu for leading our call on the New Patriotic Party executives and the government to fulfill their promise to give us jobs. We as a group of over 120 members cannot be all over the place speaking to the press and expressing our grievances. That is why we have leaders who speak in our interest.

We therefore want to state that whatever Seidu Adamu said in the media and did with our party executives is solidly endorsed by the generality of GAZA Boys. We also want to state that nobody from government or the party in the Volta Region have reached out to any of us in an attempt to listen to our plight of unemployment,” the statement said.

The GAZA Boys are reiterating their call on government for jobs or they say the NPP will suffer the implications of their unfulfilled promise to them in the 2020 elections.

Below is the full statement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ALL MEDIA HOUSES

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE GUTS AND ZEAL ASSOCIATION (GAZA) IN REACTION TO COMMENTS MADE BY THE HO CENTRAL CONSTITUENCY SECRETARY OF THE RULING NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP) AGAINST THE ASSOCIATION (GAZA)

The attention of The Guts And Zeal Association, (simply known as GAZA) has been drawn to certain comments made by the Ho Central Constituency Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bright Doh, on the 12Live Midday News Bulletin on Class FM on Thursday 11th October 2018, and we find it not only necessary for us to immediately react to the comments but also set the records straight.

Bright Doh, our party's (NPP) Constituency Secretary for Ho Central, made several statements on the news bulletin yesterday but we will limit our reaction to only a few. They are as follows:

i. That GAZA Boys have never been engaged by the NPP during the party's 2016 campaign activities.

ii. That GAZA Boys have no basis upon which to demand of the party to provide its members with employment.

iii. That, the group admittedly known to the party, have not made any attempt to reach the party executive in both the Ho Central Constituency and the Volta Regional Executives of the party for a resolution of their concerns.

iv. And most importantly, that, the Chairman of the Guts And Zeal Association (GAZA), Seidu Adamu's call on the party and the government to help address the unemployment concerns raised by GAZA are only intended to serve his personal interest.

GAZA Boys find all these comments very unfortunate and uncalled for, and for that matter, unexpected of a man who, during the 2016 elections in particular, was well aware of the coordination of the group by the Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, the Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu, Ho Central Constituency Chairman of our party, Richard Kwadekpo Zola, Robert Tetteyfio, President of the Disappointed NDC Defectees to NPP 2016, Stephen Adigon, Ho Central Constituency Organizer, who is now the Ho Municipal Director of NADMO. These are just few of the party executive across the constituency and the entire region who we are sure wouldn't be pleased hearing all these comments coming from our Constituency Secretary, Bright Doh.

We therefore react to the comments by Mr. Doh as follows:

i. It is noteworthy, that GAZA Boys have been associated with the New Patriotic Party since 2007, and have over the last decade been actively working towards the advancement of the party in the Ho Central Constituency in particular and the region as a whole.

During the limited Voter Registration exercise in 2014, GAZA Boys have been engaged along the Ghana/Togo border towns including Honuta, Nyive, Shia as border guards to prevent Togolese nationals from entering to Ghana to register. We also guarded against the registration of minors onto the Voters Register during the exercise.

These are just some of the instances under which the party engaged GAZA Boys.

We did all these for the party, first because we are members of the party, and secondly on the basis of the promises that the party made to us to provide us with jobs if it won the elections.

We challenge all those whose names we have mentioned above to come out and deny knowledge of any of these facts we have provided above.

Secondly, we have not just gotten up on a day to start demanding publicly from our party executives to provide us with jobs. We have arrived at this point after very frantic efforts have been made to get the NPP executive in the Volta region to made good of their promise of providing us with jobs.

Before we arrived here, we have tried to reach the party through our Constituency and Regional executives. We have also tried to reach the MCE for Ho, Hon. John Nelson Akorli, in September 2017, where he also reiterated his promise to make jobs available for us. All these promises are yet to be fulfilled.

Finally, the Guts And Zeal Association (GAZA Boys) wants to state categorically clear, that as a group, we are solidly behind our Chairman, Seidu Adamu for leading our call on the New Patriotic Party executives and the government to fulfill their promise to give us jobs.

We as a group of over 120 members cannot be all over the place speaking to the press and expressing our grievances. That is why we have leaders who speak in our interest.

We therefore want to state that whatever Seidu Adamu said in the media and did with our party executives is solidly endorsed by the generality of GAZA Boys.

We also want to state that nobody from government or the party in the Volta Region have reached out to any of us in an attempt to listen to our plight of unemployment.

We therefore want to conclude by stating that, promises are meant to be fulfilled and unfulfilled promises have repercussions. Just as the Vice President's "Promises Made, Promises Broken" lecture had dire consequences for the opposition National Democratic Congress in the 2016 elections, the promises that were made to GAZA Boys, if unfulfilled, will definitely have its own implications for the NPP in the 2020 elections.

Our case is simple. You have given us an assignment and we have delivered and you have won the elections.

Honour your part of the bargain. Provide us with jobs.

Thank you. Long Live NPP. Long Live Ghana.

God bless our homeland Ghana. Thank you.

Signed:

Seidu Adamu, Chairman

Muhammad Fuseini Nash, Secretary

Samed Husseini, PRO