But for the timely intervention of students of the Akatsi College of Education and security of the Ho Polytechnic, some thugs alleged to have been sponsored by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) would have disrupted the campaign tour of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate for the 2016 elections, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Dr. Bawumia, who embarked on a three-day-tour of the Volta region, had addressed students from a number of tertiary institutions in the region on the state of the economy and also encouraged them to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 general election.

However, before addressing students of the Akatsi College of Education and Ho Polytechnic, the NPP regional executives had intelligence report that the NDC had sponsored some thugs from the Volta Regional capital, Ho to come and disrupt the programme.

The NPP regional executives, therefore, decided not to allow Nana Akofo Addo’s running mate to address students from the two institutions, so they left him (Bawumia) behind and went to the programme on their own.

Not long after arriving at the Akatsi College of Education, the thugs stormed the school’s campus to disrupt the programme, but the students put up a brave resistance by facing them, and succeeded in driving them away.

Similarly, when the NPP regional executives turned up at the Ho Polytechnic, the thugs once again showed up, but the security men did their job well by preventing them from entering the walls of the campus.

Addressing a large number of students forming the party’s intellectual wing, drawn from the University of Health and Allied Sciences, EP University College, Ho Nurses Training College and Ho Polytechnic at the latter’s auditorium, Mr. John Peter Amewu, Chairman of the Volta Region NPP alleged that the thugs who went to the Akatsi College of Education to disrupt the party’s programme were sponsored by the NDC.

Mr. Amewu, however, commended the students of Akatsi College of Education and the security men at the Ho Polytechnic for confronting the hooligans and driving them away from their respective campuses.

The Volta Regional NPP Chairman said members of his party respect law and order, but his executives would not tolerate any act aimed at intimidating its members as well as supporters, cautioning that the NDC should start thinking of a more civilized way of conducting their political activities, because next time such a thing happens, he and his executives would respond appropriately.

Mr. Amewu, who was annoyed by the development, stressed that: “We, the executives of the NPP in the region are all from the Volta region and I, the Chairman of the NPP come from Gbi-Bla and I want to sound a word of caution to the NDC that they cannot intimidate us in this region. If they try us again, we would respond accordingly”.

He continued that the violence introduced by the NDC as part of its strategy was a clear sign of a defeatist grand agenda, but unfortunately the plan would not work. He added that the NDC had contributed to the underdevelopment of the Volta region over the years and this time wanted to intimidate the NPP and its supporters in this region, saying they would resist them the next time.

Dr. Bawumia, on his part, appealed to them to vote massively for the NPP in the 2016 general election to enable Nana Akufo-Addo to transform what he described as worsening economic situation in the country, to help improve the standard of living of all Ghanaians.

He noted that the Volta region over the years had not recorded significant number of votes for the NPP and the 2016 general election should see a major change in the voting pattern of the people.

According to him, it is clear there would be change of power from the NDC to the NPP in the 2016 general elections. He assured the people that the region would experience major developments, just as it did under the regime of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, even though little votes were recorded for the party at the time.

Speaking on a local radio station, Volta Premier in the regional capital, as part of a three day tour of the region, Dr. Bawumia pointed out that the economic problems confronting the country under the NDC led government was as a result of total mismanagement associated with high levels of corruption.

He hinted that Ghanaians are suffering more today, even though the country has more resources than ever which could be used to make life very comfortable for the people.