A section of National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth in Damongo made a dramatic appearance at the Office of the West Gonja Municipal Assembly on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, threatening to burn down the facility over a series of employment and staffing demands that have drawn widespread condemnation from residents and observers.
The youth, who had earlier approached the Municipal Chief Executive for West Gonja Municipality, Hon. Yakubu Yussif Castro, with a request to be employed as revenue collectors, were initially accommodated. The MCE invited them to submit names of candidates for the positions, and after they did so, all the names presented were employed. Despite this gesture, the youth returned with fresh demands.
In a petition submitted to the MCE through the Savannah Regional Minister, the youth demanded the dismissal of a revenue collector known by the name “Abortion,” alleging that he is a member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). They also demanded the removal of Mr. Alhassan Z. Nicholas, the Client Service Officer of the Assembly, from his role as caretaker of the Damongo Community Centre and the Astro Turf, insisting that an NDC loyalist be appointed in his place.
The MCE yielded the demands, replacing Mr. Alhassan Z. Nicholas AKA De-Hitman with a person identified as Imoro Shakuru, popularly known as “Lill Shark.”
However, snippets of information reaching us suggest that the push to remove “Abortion” may have a more personal dimension. According to sources, Abortion is alleged to have abandoned a private receipt issued to him by a former Assembly Member for the Yipala/Nabori Electoral Area. It is alleged that the said former Assembly Member subsequently influenced the youth to campaign for Abortion’s removal, with the NPP membership allegation serving as a convenient pretext.
Despite the concessions granted, the youth stormed the Assembly offices yesterday Wednesday, shouting and using unprintable language directed at the MCE.
They also threatened to set the building ablaze. The MCE is said to have personally appealed to the youth to calm down, but his pleas went unheeded, forcing him to invite the Police to restore order.
The development has sparked strong reactions from residents and political observers across the municipality and the wider Savannah Region.
Many have described the conduct of the youth as primitive, ill-advised, and an embarrassment to the NDC. Critics have recalled a similar episode during the commissioning of the Damongo Camp Prison, when NDC youth displayed placards against President John Dramani Mahama an act widely considered a public relations disaster for the party in the region.
Observers say the Damongo NDC youth stand in sharp contrast to their counterparts in other constituencies in the Savannah Region, who are said to have engaged the ruling party more constructively and are quietly benefiting from the administration. Critics are calling on the regional and national leadership of the NDC to urgently advise and re-educate the Damongo youth wing on how governance works, warning that their behaviour is damaging the party’s image.
Adding to the controversy, sources say the Damongo NDC youth have issued threats, vowing to ensure that any Damongo youth who does not align with their actions will be transferred out of the municipality. This threat has been widely condemned as intimidation and an abuse of political influence.
Many residents say the threat to burn down a public institution which serves the entire West Gonja Municipality regardless of political affiliation represents “pure illiteracy,” and have called for accountability for those involved in Wednesday’s disturbance.
