The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem in the Western Region, George Mireku Duker, has confirmed fisticuffs with the NPP Western Regional Secretary, Charles Bissue who doubles as a presidential staffer at a meeting on Monday.
Confirming the incident in an interview with the Daily Guide newspaper, Mr Duker said Mr Bissue bit his finger during the brawl which occurred at a meeting which had NPP national campaign manager, Peter Mac Manu and Director of Operations at the Presidency, Lord Commey present.
The meeting also had some national officers, Western Regional executives of the NPP as well as some metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, MPs and parliamentary candidates present.
Mr Duker told the Daily Guide that he had complained to the regional executives about the fact that Mr Bissue was supporting an independent candidate in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency against him.
“So at the meeting, I made the same complaint that there is an independent candidate in Tarkwa who is being supported by some regional executives so we should trash the issue here. After my presentation, I went to sit down,” he recounted.
“But before the meeting came to an end, Lord Commey asked Bissue to react to the issue I raised in three minutes,” Mr Duker recounted.
Mr Duker said “those present were all surprised at the comment from Mr Bissue because he was pitting him against the President and so Lord Commey went for the microphone and said ‘this is not the issue we want you to discuss’.”
Mr Duker said Mr Bissue was asked to sit down and that instead of going to sit on his chair, he was going to where he (Duker) was sitting fuming and threatening to beat him [Duker].
“He was coming to me as he shouted, ‘I will beat you!’ So my chairman was even asking me to get up because Bissue was coming to me. Lo and behold! Bissue came to me and threw a blow at me and in defence I also threw one at him but my finger went into his mouth and he chewed it,” he alleged.
“I had a deep cut at the middle finger of my right hand. I later went to the Jemimah Hospital for some treatment,” Mr Duker said.
The Assistant Constituency Secretary of the NPP at Tarkwa Nsuaem, Gomashie Edem Wisdom, who corroborated the story to the Daily Guide newspaper said NPP activists in the constituency had even planned to demonstrate against for allegedly supporting the independent candidate against Mr Duker.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Mr Bissue told the newspaper that he had not bitten or chewed the finger of anyone.
Some photos showing Mr Bissue with a swollen face have since been published on the internet.