Apam (C/R), May 21, GNA - Election of officers to man the Apam branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) at Apam on Friday, May 20 ended in a stalemate. This was after the Central Regional Chairman of GPRTU, Mr Kwame Kumah allegedly insulted Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, Gomoa West District Chief Executive (DCE), who is also a member of the branch. Mr John Cofie, Apam Branch Chairman of the union said the Regional Secretariat wrote to the branch officers of the body to inform them of the date for the election, which was held every four years and asked the officials to educate members about the electoral process. He said because the district had no labour officer, the members invited the district electoral officer to perform the function and conduct the election. However, Mr Kumah also known as Twer Nyame told the members that he had bought some labour officers from Cape Coast to conduct the election.

Mr Cofie, said a letter from the Regional Secretariat to the branch mandated the branch to get either a labour officer or electoral officer to explain the electoral procedure to members before the date of the election. He said the local union had complied with the directives of the letter by inviting the district electoral officer to do the briefing and conduct the election. But this did not go down well with the Regional Chairman who retorted that he was in charge therefore, the branch chairman must obey his command.

The DCE then got up and said the members of the local union acted upon the strength of instructions in the letter they received from the Regional Secretariat. This infuriated Mr Kumah who without provocation allegedly hurled insults on the DCE using some unprintable words and left the room with his retinue without holding the election