Managing Election- Relation Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana of some District Chief Executives(DCEs), managers and staff of NHIS and NYEP offices. These actions were usually performed through public agitation and sometimes forceful removals, threats and acts of violence(Nyame, 2011). It is also interesting to note that many of these so-called'footsoldiers' who are largely semi-skilled or illiterate, demanded top jobs and'juicy' government contracts 7 . 3 These and many similar disturbances by supporters of the NDC demonstrate how patronage systems can deteriorate, with possibly violent eruptions if the perceived rewards are not forthcoming. The police also demonstrated during this period that they were either unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes committed under the umbrella of politics(Aning and Lartey, 2009). Related to these incidents was the seizure of public toilets, which is not new in Ghana. Over time, public toilets have become politically protected business opportunities that, like taxis or drinking bars, are given out as political favours. In Kumasi in particular, Nana Akwasi Agyeman, the Metropolitan Chief Executive appointed by Rawlings in 1994, openly distributed the toilet contracts to'loyal' Assembly Members, and denied them to critics(Ayee and Crook 2003). During his regime, the sub­metropolitan assemblies in Kumasi became virtually moribund as both revenue and patronage were centralised under the control of the Metropolitan Chief Executive and Metropolitan Assembly departments. 74 There are numerous instances of conflicts 73 Some media houses carried interviews with some of these footsoldiers who generally stated that they deserved positions comparable with that of ministers of state and'top dollar' contracts(Nyame, 2011). For instance, Joy FM, an Accra-based radio station in April 2010 broadcast an interview between one of the leaders of the footsoldiers and a Minister of State when violent demonstrations had begun in Yendi(Northern Region) to remove the incumbent Municipal Chief Executive for failing to give contracts to members of the NDC. During the interview, the footsoldier told the minister that'if the footsoldiers were good enough to work to bring the NDC into power, they were good enough to occupy high offices and take up juicy government contracts like the Minister'(Nyame, 2011). 74 In one instance, an NDC chairman and his group managing the public toilets in the Ayawaso district was replaced by a new group of people from the NPP after a change in government. After the swearing in of the new Metropolitan Assembly in November 2002, a group calling themselves'Concerned Citizens' took over all the toilets in Accra with the overt or covert support of the assembly and people in high authority(Ayee and Crook, 2003). These takeovers involved violent clashes betwen incumbent and opposition forces. 197