Charles Taleog Ndabon Granted Bail Amidst Internal Party Vehicle Dispute
Charles Taleog Ndanbon, the Upper East Regional Organiser of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), recently found himself embroiled in a contentious party dispute centered on the party’s CHANGAN HUNTER pick-up vehicle. After being summoned by the Upper East Regional Police Command, Ndanbon was granted bail, but the ordeal revealed deep divisions within the party’s regional leadership. Speaking after his release, Mr. Ndanbon shared his perspective, offering insight into the circumstances that led to his brief encounter with the police. He explained that the issue began when he was called in by the police regarding the party’s regional leadership and, more specifically, the pick-up vehicle assigned to him during the 2024 general elections. “I was supposed to return the pickup on the 9th of December 2024,” Ndanbon recalled. “But by the 8th, the vehicle had broken down, so I couldn’t hand it over.” He said he promptly informed the party of the breakdown and made it clear that the vehicle was not his personal property, but a party asset assigned to him for official duties. As regional organiser, he insisted, “I have to have a pickup to run the affairs of the party.” Despite his efforts to communicate with party leadership, Ndanbon said confusion persisted over the allocation of the vehicle. “I don’t know why they didn’t give the pickup to me,” he admitted. He wrote to the party leadership, explaining his need for the vehicle to support party official duties and carry out party responsibilities, but received no response. Undeterred, Mr. Ndanbon continued using the pickup for party work, monitoring internal elections, and traveling to remote communities such as Navarongo and its environs. Tensions heightened when the regional chairman sent the vice-chairman to retrieve the vehicle while Ndanbon was on assignment. “The chairman told me to go and do party work in Navarongo, so I did,” he said. Unexpectedly, Ndanbon received a letter via WhatsApp addressed to the party’s general secretary, accusing him of refusing to return the pickup. “I was shocked,” he recalled. “This is a party matter, an internal affair.” The situation escalated when the regional police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) contacted him, alleging that he had stolen the party vehicle. “I was stunned. They said I stole a car belonging to the party,” Ndanbon said. With a lawyer by his side, he was required to give a statement at the police station and was subsequently granted bail. Eventually, the disputed vehicle was released to the police, and the regional chairman inspected it before it was handed back to the party. “That was the end. The car was handed over to the party,” Ndanbon confirmed. However, the saga did not conclude quietly. Ndanbon accused the NPP Regional Chairman of incompetence, blaming him for the party’s declining fortunes in the region. “This is a chairman who came and the party was having three seats for the region, and now he has succeeded in bringing it down to zero seats. So, he is not ashamed of himself to send this matter to the police station,” Ndanbon lamented. He criticized the decision to escalate the issue to law enforcement, insisting it was an internal matter and urging the party to focus on reorganizing for victory in the 2028 elections. He also praised former chairmen, the late Adam and Alhaji Murtala, as examples of hardworking leadership. Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the Regional Chairman, Lawyer Anthony Namoo, He said he found himself compelled to take such unprecedented step. In a letter dated May 19, 2024, he recounted the series of frustrating events that led him and the Regional Executive Committee (REC) to involve the police in a matter they would have preferred to resolve amicably. The trouble began in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections, when the party allocated a pick-up vehicle to each of the 15 constituencies in the region. The vehicles were handed over to the parliamentary candidates (PCs) in Accra, with constituency chairmen as witnesses. It was agreed that by December 9, 2024, these pick-ups would be returned to the Constituency Executive Committees. While most PCs either used the pick-ups for their campaigns or yielded them to the constituency chairmen, and subsequently returned them after the elections, there was one glaring exception: Charles Taleog Ndanbon, the Upper East Regional Organiser. Despite repeated requests and even a formal memo demanding compliance, Ndanbon refused to hand over the pick-up meant for the Nabdan constituency. Neither diplomatic appeals nor interventions by respected family members could convince him to release the vehicle. The REC took up the issue in its meetings, with the matter being discussed at length on March 14, 2026. After months of absence, Ndanbon finally showed up at the April 9, 2026, meeting, explaining evasively that the pick-up had broken down. He implied that, as a regional officer, he deserved to keep using the vehicle, even though it was allocated to a specific constituency. Efforts to resolve the matter internally reached a breaking point. The REC, unconvinced by Ndanbon’s assertions, in particular, his claim that the General Secretary had permitted him to keep the pick-up, formed a committee to retrieve the vehicle. The committee visited Ndanbon’s home, inspected the immobilized pick-up, and confirmed it was suffering from a clutch problem. By May 5, 2026, the pick-up was back on the road. Yet, when representatives again approached Ndanbon to request his handover, he defiantly insisted he would not comply, again citing supposed authorization from higher up. Frustrated by months of stonewalling and with all diplomatic channels exhausted, Anthony Namoo and the REC saw no alternative but to involve the Ghana Police Service. In his own words, Namoo described the regional organiser’s conduct as “impudent” and “insolent,” noting that Ndanbon already owned a personal pick-up and several other vehicles, yet still chose to deprive the Nabdam constituency of its designated pick-up, an act that disrupted party operations for over 20 months. In light of what he called gross misconduct and insubordination, Anthony Namoo formally notified the General Secretary