There was total commotion and near free-for-all fight between factions in the Oda constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), when the constituency organiser, Kwadwo Ampaabeng last Sunday convened a meeting of party faithful in the con¬stituency to look at the way forward for the party. The meeting ended inconclusively when the issue of the sitting Member of Parliament, Hon Yaw Osafo Maafo's alleged neglect of the constituency was brought to the fore. The moment the con¬stituency youth organiser raised the issue, telling members that Hon Osafo-Maafo had failed to account for money generated at a fundraising programme in 2004, confusion broke out as other members fiercely disputed the claim. Angry members poked fingers into the eyes of opposing mem¬bers as tempers flared up. A section of members, who supported Osafo Maafo, fiercely engaged the opposing group in hot verbal exchanges which spilled over into the streets of Oda old town where the meeting was being held. Before the youth organiser made his allegation, other party members had had their say, arguing that Hon Osafo Maafo had denigrated and neglected them. According to them, the Akyem Oda MP donated some relief items and a huge sum of money to people in the north while some communities in his constituency were in dire need of social amenities. "Osafo-Maafo has taken us for granted because he does not come from the constituency," a member of the anti-Osafo-Maafo group said. According to the group, what annoyed them most was that Hon Osafo-Maafo had alleged that people of Oda were illiterates and that one could buy their conscience if the person bought pusher and palm wine for them. They contended that there were equally well-educated people at Oda who could represent the people better. "Constituency executive members only think about their stomachs and not party foot soldiers," they charged. Earlier on before the commotion, the constituency youth organiser had told the party faithfuls to bury their differences in relation to disputes that arose in the run-up to election of the party’s flagbearer. The constituency was seen as stronghold of candi¬date AIan Kyerematen even though its MP, Hon Osafo Maafo, was contesting for the flagbearership. "Now that we have elected Nana Akufo-Addo as the party's flagbearer, let's all unite behind him and work for him to win the elections because the 2008 general elections would be a tough one," he said. DAILY GUIDE learnt that several people have expressed their interest in contesting the Oda seat on the ticket of the NPP. They are Owusu Boateng, Yaw Twum-Sakyi, Dr. Grace Bediako, who is the government statistician, Frank Kwame Bosumtwi, who is a District Chief Executive in the area, and Larry Kwaku Attafuah. The announcement by the sitting MP on Monday that he would not be contesting the seat again paved the way for the afore-men¬tioned individuals to scramble for the seat. Source: Daily Guide