Northern Chiefs meet over Deputy Agric Minister’s tribal comments

Angry Chiefs in the Northern Region are convening a crunch meeting later today (Tuesday) over the ethonocentric comments of the Deputy Agric Minister, William Quaitoo.

The Chiefs say they find the comments of the deputy minister very demeaning and unacceptable, adding that his apology that came after he was pressured is not enough to assuage their feeling.

They are expected to come out with their official position on the matter after their meeting.

Hon. William Quaitoo in an interview with Starr News described farmers from the North who are demanding compensation for their crops destroyed by the army worm invasion as people who cannot be trusted and have intentions to defraud the government.

However, Mr. Quaitoo apologized after he was heavily criticized by residents in the Northern Region.

A Presidential Staffer Clara Napaga Tia Sulemana has also waded into the controversy over the tribal comments.

According to her, the apology offered by her colleague in government is not enough for an offense such as insulting an ethnic group.

The Minority in Parliament has also called on President Akufo-Addo to sack Hon. Quaitoo for his unguarded statement.

In a statement signed by the Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu Monday, the Minority described the comments by the deputy minister as unjustifiable and unacceptable.

“We find it totally unjustifiable and unacceptable that the Deputy Minister would label the entire people of the three Northern Regions who he says he has lived with for 27 years, as unreasonable people, accomplished and persistent liars, people with a high propensity for perpetrating fraud, people who all the time use these fraudulent acts to steal money from the state.

“…Should he fail to quit these office voluntarily and now, we call on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, to fire him immediately as a mark of his revulsion against this unprovoked and reckless ethnocentric bigotry against the entire people of the three Northern Regions” the statement said.