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Parliamentary debate in Odododiodio constituency ends in chaos

Vanderpuije, who seeking re-election and doubles as the Minister of Youth and Sports, was hooted at by rival supporters anytime he made submissions.

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Thousands of people attended the debate at Bukum Square Friday and the battle lines were drawn between supporters of incumbent Nii Lante Vanderpuije and NPP’s Nii Lante Bannerman.

They held placards with inscriptions "MP rapist," 'MP liar' and "Club House MA" directed at the minister who has so far run a chaotic administration at the sports ministry.

A news editor at the Ghanaian Observer newspaper, Nana Mogabi, who witnessed the chaotic scenes at Bukum Square accused 3FM of organising a poorly planned and bias debate for the parliamentary aspirants in Odododiodoo Constituency.

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The news editor said: "Nii Lantey Bannerman accused Vanderpuye of been incompetent and neglecting the Youths in the constituency but Nii Lantey Vanderpuye quickly responded that he is not incompetent because President John Mahama has plans for the people of Odododiodoo.

"Look at the placards, it says it all, all this happened at Bukom Square, the strong hold of Vanderpuye. In 2012, NPP could not even walk through the township of Bukom with their party colours, but today, Nii Lantey Bannerman led his supporters to sing through the township of Bukom whilst Vanderpuye was hooted when he was entering the debate grounds...

"Speaking to some of the people, they said Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has neglected them and he is only enriching himself leaving them to suffer, so now they have all joined the NPP to bring hope to them.

"What does this tell you? There is an obvious sign of change of hope coming into the constituency.

"The program ended up in a riot, supporters of Vanderpuye begun to attack supporters of Bannerman and his supporters retaliated equally and they ended up at the James Town Police with one casualty recorded, he wrote on his Facebook Wall.

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According to 3fm.com, just about six minutes to the end of the debate, which was broadcasted live on 3FM, an apparent angry NDC supporter moved out of the crowd to the dais and punched one of the representatives of Mr Bannerman.

Then the situation degenerated. The supporters from each side started hurling stones and sticks at each other, and while the Police tried to intervene to ensure order, they clashed. The Police pushed back the crowd far from the podium, cordoned the area and whisked the candidates away into their vehicle to secure their safety.

They then called for reinforcement. Although the Police were armed, they did not fire warning shots or teargas to disperse the crowd as that could have resulted in a bloody situation. Leaders in the predominant Ga community quickly intervened.

A supporter of the NDC was stabbed in the melee while several others sustained various degrees of injury. The windscreen of at least two cars was also smashed.

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