Chief of Staff making tribalistic, ethnocentric comments – Group

A youth group calling itself the Movement for Kingdom Image (MFKI) has slammed the Chief of Staff Julius Debrah for allegedly making “ethnocentric and tribalistic” comments.

The former Eastern regional minister speaking at the campaign launch of Majority Leader Alban Bagbin in the Nadowli-Kaleo constituency in the Upper West Region on Saturday, 24 September, appealed to northerners not to disappoint their “own brother” in the December 7 polls.

“Now it’s the turn of President John Dramani Mahama, who is from the north, and we are being told that we should let him stay only four years so that we can bring somebody. I don’t think this is fair…and, so, I’m using this occasion to urge you all to vote massively for your own brother,” the Chief of Staff said.

But a statement signed by Kofi Osempakani Kaakyire, President of MFKI, on Tuesday, stated that “we the Movement for the Kingdom Image are disappointed in the chief of staff Julius Deberah for his ethnocentric and tribalistic statements during his speech at Alban Bagbin's campaign launch.

“We heard the chief of staff telling the people of North to vote for their brother a Northerner because or else they are sidelined for good.

“We think Julius doesn't deserve to hold the position as chief of staff whose position means that he is the Lord over all the ministers and government appointees which is not a small position so we expected him to speak with maturity especially in this hot political era.”

The statement added “such comments have encouraged the young guys in the party to be doing violent things in this country. Ghana needs peace so our politicians must be responsible. We are disappointed in Julius for such inflammatory statement.”