Just a day after the swearing-in of President John Dramani Mahama, some public offices across the country were hijacked by alleged assigns of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In the morning of Wednesday, January 8, 2025 The Chronicle picked up reliable information that some men in military uniform had taken custody of the office of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) in Accra, locking staff outside.
The Chronicle gathered that these alleged military officers would not listen to any explanation and stood their stance not to open the gate for the workers of the DACF to enter the office to carry out their duties as public workers.
The situation was so bad that the staff were left stranded outside the main entrance of the DACF head office in Accra, near the presidential annex, close to the Parliament House, which shares a boundary with the new Electoral Commission headquarters.
Some of the staff who could not bear the embarrassment had to return to their various homes around 10am, after spending close to two hours standing outside, while the alleged soldiers dutifully cordoned the premises.
Speaking to The Chronicle, a staff member who was distressed said they worked in their offices on Monday, but did not see the presence of the military, nor was there any communication to them not to come to the office on Wednesday, since Tuesday was a public holiday.
Explaining the situation, the staff (name withheld) indicated that “We came to work on Monday and there was no problem. But when we got here this morning [Wednesday], the main gate had been locked and soldiers were guarding the place. They told us that we cannot enter the office, without telling us why.”
One of the affected staff said “Some people, after standing outside in the scorching sun, went back home.”
Before midday, when the rest of the staff, who stayed behind with hope of being permitted to enter their offices to work, also left, only those in charge of finance allowed entry.
The Chronicle was informed that the finance department had a meeting with auditors, thus, the alleged military officers allowed them to enter to have the meeting.
It is not known whether the action was sanctioned by the government, but at the time of filing this report in the evening of Wednesday, no communication had emanated from the government on the situation.
RELATION
In related developments, news broke yesterday of alleged supporters of the ruling NDC locking some public offices and hijacking public installations, including the Kotoka International Airport.
It was reported that the National Identification office in Koforidua, Eastern Region, was locked up by alleged supporters of the NDC.
On Wednesday, a group believed to be supporters of the ruling NDC invaded the New Juaben South Municipal Assembly, locking the offices of the National Disaster Management Organisation, National Service Secretariat, National Identification Authority and the National Health Insurance Authority.
REOCCURRENCE
In all the places where public offices were locked up, no violence was recorded, except that those institutions did not work due to the situation.
It is not clear what the motive behind those acts is, but they have some semblance to incidents in 2017 when the New Patriotic Party took over governance from the NDC.
