KOFI ADDA, VEEP'S ALLY FIGHT AT NPP RALLY (Daily Graphic; Monday ,November 3, 2008 PAGE 16)

AN exchange of blows between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Navrongo Central, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, and a close ally of the Vice- President, Aliu Mahama, Mr Adams Mahama, marred a heavily patronised rally of the party in Navrongo on Saturday.
Police personnel and party officials had to apply tact and diplomacy to prevent the fight from spreading among supporters of the two combatants who had earlier engaged in open and intense verbal attacks, hecklings, violent pushes and shoves before the punches and slaps.
Some of the important personalities on the dais, where the incident occurred told the Daily Graphic that Mr Adda failed to acknowledge the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who was also part of the entourage of the party’s running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in whose honour the rally was held.
They told the Daily Graphic that when Mr Adda refused to acknowledge the Vice- President during and after his speech, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the National Campaign Manager for the NPP, proceeded to ask the MP why he did not acknowledge the presence of the Vice-President, the running-mate and other party officials.
The sources said Mr Adda reportedly complained to Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey that most of the leading members of the party hated him, thus there was no need for him to exchange pleasantries with any of them.
This response was said to have sparked an exchange of words between the Vice-President and the MP, which did not go down well with the Vice-President’s close ally Mr Adams Mahama, who then engaged Mr Adda in some physical exchanges.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic later at the residency, Mr Adams appologised for the unfortunate incident, but attributed everything to an alleged use of unsavoury words on the Vice-President by Mr Adda.
According to him, after Mr Adda had finished addressing the crowd, he refused to go back to the Vice President to shake hands as the other parliamentary candidates and speakers who had preceded him had done.
He said when Mr Adda was prevailed upon by party leaders on the high table to go back and exchange pleasantries with him, he used some unprintable words on the Vice-President,
“I, Adam Mahama, will prefer to die than to seat there and watch Kofi Adda insult the sitting Vice-President of the land,” he said.
“So, I approached him and asked him why he used those words on the Vice-President, but he (Kofi) told me I should not be stupid. He tried to hold me, but I pushed him aside and this led to the scuffle,” Adams said.
In the ensuing melee, a journalist with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Eric Amoh, who was covering the rally, was assaulted by a section of the crowd. Mr Amoh, who later lodged a report at the Bolgatanga Municipal Police Station, was issued with Police Medical Form for diagnosis and treatment at the hospital.
Efforts to reach Mr Adda, who was whisked away from the rally grounds immediately by his supporters for his comments, proved futile as several calls to his cell phone were not responded to.
The Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Mahama Hamidu, who was present at the rally grounds, declined to comment when he was approached.