The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region is facing eviction from its office at Krofuom in Kumasi over allegations of unpaid rent.
The landlady, together with some irate young men, believed to be his sons, disrupted a meeting of the Tertiary Students Confederacy of NPP (TESCON) in an attempt to lock up the facility on Friday.
The are demanding payment of three years rent arrears amounting to GHS 36,000.
In January 23, 2014, Bernard Antwi Bosiako (Chairman Wontumi), who was a top contender for the NPP regional chairmanship position, held a ceremony to donate a two-storey building clad in NPP colours.
Eight years later, the owner of the facility is back, chasing the party for unpaid rent.
Son of the landlady, Emmanuel Yankson, said the party has defaulted in payment of rent for three years, amounting to Ghc36,000.
According to him, his elder brother gave out the facility to the NPP for a thousand cedis each month for five years.
They agreed to renegotiate the amount after every two years.
He claims it’s been over eight years since they rented the property to the party but no renovation has taken place.
According to him, the facility now looks like an abandoned structure.
Mr Yankson claims his mother has tried unsuccessfully to reach Chairman Wontumi over the rent.
“He doesn’t visit the party office anymore so this morning we heard TESCON is organizing a programme, we came to meet the Chairman to settle issues with him,” said Mr Yankson.
He said the facility has been locked up until further notice.
Meanwhile, Mr Antwi Boasiako, popularly called Chairman Wontumi, speaking on a local radio station – Kessben FM – has denied owing the landlady.
He revealed that the party has rented the facility for 10 years.
Meanwhile, the NPP leadership in the region is said to have held an emergency meeting with the landlady to address the issue.
On Thursday, April 19, 2018, the NPP held a special fundraising at Dunkirk, a suburb of Kumasi to mobilise funds to finance the party’s campaign in the region.
Leadership of the party cut sod for the construction of a permanent office which when completed will be located at Dadiesoaba and will contain 24 offices and three conference halls.