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NATIVES OF Sefwi Wiawso in the Western Region are up-in-arms against the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for allegedly disgracing Dr Kweku Afriyie, a royal of the town in public. The incident allegedly took place during the 50th anniversary celebration of Sefwi Wiawso Senior High School last Saturday. The people said they felt ashamed when they realized that Dr. Afriyie, a former health minister and prominent medical doctor at Sefwi was not allowed to sit among the dignitaries on the dais but was rather given a seat at the back where members of the general public were seated. �In fact we Sefwis felt insulted when we saw that some personalities from other areas were seated with the Vice President John Mahama on the dais while Dr Afriyie, the man we respect so much and are proud of was seated far away from the dais,� one of them remarked. These were sentiments expressed by a section of people in Sefwi Wiawso when Western Regional Women�s Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joan Abena Kwallah interacted with them as part of her listening tour to the area. The people therefore lambasted activists of the NDC in Sefwi Wiawso including the Member of Parliament (MP), Paul Evans Aidoo for allegedly masterminding what they referred to as the unfair treatment meted out to Dr. Afriyie. According to them, Dr. Afriyie, who is also the NPP 2012 parliamentary candidate for Sefwi Wiawso was becoming popular day in day out because of his benevolence to the people. They added that he had even become more popular because of what took place at the programme last Saturday as everybody was now mentioning his name. Madam Kwallah also met with people in the Zongo community at Sefwi Wiawso where she disabused their minds of the erroneous perception that the NPP was anti-Muslim. She then went further to mention the names of some Muslims who held key positions in the NPP at both the regional and national levels. She appealed to them to make sure they register when the Electoral Commission begins the biometric registration exercise early next year to enable them take part in the 2012 general elections. She also urged them to advise their children not to allow themselves to be used by activists of any political party for electoral malpractices to suit their whims and caprices. Prior to her interaction with the Muslim community, Madam Kwallah met with different groups at the Sefwi Dwenase Market where most of the market women slammed Mr. Aidoo for allegedly deceiving them. According to the market women during the 2008 electioneering campaign, Mr. Aidoo came to the market and promised the traders that when elected to power, the NDC would make sure that the muddy market ground was concreted. The market women alleged that after winning the election, the MP had not even set foot at the market to say �thank you for voting for me.� They indicated they had therefore resolved to advice themselves in the next general elections and urged their fellow women not allow themselves to be influenced with money from politicians in the 2012 general elections. �The next general election is about our future and the future of our children and listening to Nana Akufo-Addo, we believe he is the one who can send Ghana to the promise land; we women in Sefwi will vote for him and Dr. Afriyie!� they exclaimed. Madam Kwallah explained that the old register and the identification cards would not be used for the 2012 election and stressed the need for the women to register in their numbers come early next year to enable them vote in the next general elections. There was spontaneous jubilation when Madam Kwallah and her entourage arrived at the Sefwi Wiawso main garage to interact with the mechanics. Naana Amoah, a member of the NPP western regional women�s wing commended the mechanics for their continuous unflinching support for the party and urged them to continue with the hard work since the 2012 election demanded just that. Earlier, Madam Kwallah officially made Dr. Kweku Afriyie, a patron of the NPP western regional women�s wing at a short ceremony. In an interview later, she disclosed that other patrons of the women�s wing included Dr. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng and Alberta Cudjoe, Western Regional Chairperson of the party�s council of elders in the region.