General News of Thursday, 23 June 2005

Source: Daily Guide

Ndebugri blasts CJA leaders

The Member of Parliament for Zebilla, John Ndebugri has taken the wahala demonstrators to the cleaners, describing the leaders of the committee for Joint Action as a bunch of rabble-rousers, who are only interested in causing confusion in the country.

The organizers of the wahala marches, Ndebugri stated, have lost focus, but are only trying to cause mayhem on the streets. Speaking on Peace FM, an Accra bases private radio station on Wednesday, the fire brand Zebilla MP said there is no rationale for the continuous agitation of ?wahalians? on the streets since the government was only giving a fresh mandate six months earlier.

? It is an insult that they can champion the interest of the people, when the country just emerged from an election, six months earlier, he said.

The CJA is a critic pressure group that has been protesting against petroleum price hikes announced in February 18,2005.

Apart from Accra the CJA had taken its wahala demonstrations to Ho, Wa, Kumasi and Techiman with the next demonstration scheduled for Cape Coast next week.

The demonstrations have not made any impact, as they continue to record low patronage, contrary to expectations of the organizers.

Mr Ndebugri who is also the first vice People?s National Convention (PNC) said the continuous agitations by the wahalians are tantamount to lawlessness and chaos because Ghanaians have decided have decided who should lead them during the 2004 general elections.

The Zebilla MP who is not happy with the participation of his party?s third vice chairman, Aljai Ahmed Ramadan in the demonstration asked Alhaji Ramadan not to drag the name of the party into disrepute.

According to him it was very difficult to separate Alhaji Ramadan?s membership of CJA, from his position in PNC and therefore, the third vice chairman should desist from embarrassing the party.

?Ramadan is a high-profile leader of the party and it is difficult to separate him, as an individual and a party office holder,? he said.