"Northerners" demand apology from Benyiwa-Doe

The National Women?s organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Madam Ama Benyiwa-Doe, has incurred the wrath of a group of Ghanaians who accuse her of descending heavily on northerners.

The group, Liberal Democrats, accused the NDC Women?s organizer of being an ?embodiment of arrogance and sectionalism? instead of humanity and nationalism.

?We consider her actions as premeditated and therefore must be condemned by the discerning people of Ghana. We believe that her action was meant to foment trouble and hence, derail the peace and tranquility that prevail in the country.?

Mad. Benyiwa-Doe, who was tagged ?Ama Chavez?, following a brawl she had with a co-panelist on Adom FM, a Tema-based radio station, is under pressure as a result of comments she made on Hot FM, a private radio station in Accra. Chronicle 30.03

During the station?s newspaper review programme, Madam Benyiwa Doe was reported to have said, ?Wo ye tani nti na woa gyimi saa? literally meaning, ?you are a fool because you are a Northerner? to Hon. Balado Manu, NPP MP for Ahafo Ano North, during exchanges between the two.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, Alhaji Alhassan Abdullah, urged the NDC capo to render an unqualified apology to the people whose sensibilities she has abused.

According to the group, even though Ama Benyiwa-Doe?s attention was drawn to the fact that she was literally describing the people from the northern half of the country and the people from Zongo communities as fools, she was subsequently adamant and unremorseful.

?Ama Benyiwa-Doe?s action is also a clear manifestation of the growing discontentment within certain quarters of her political party against the NDC members from the Northern and Zongo communities for being at the helm of affairs in and outside Parliament to restore their party?s lost glory.?

Alhaji Abdullah, who was supported by the chairman of the group, Sheik Awal Larry, cautioned the national women?s organizer that the NDC, the party she represents, derives the bulk of its political support from the three Northern Regions and the Zongo communities and that calling them fools was highly unpardonable.

Expressing disgust, they claimed that personalities like Benyiwa-Doe should not be allowed to assume leadership positions in the country; otherwise it would lead to destruction of morality in society.

?We are aware of ulterior motives against our brothers and sisters in the NDC who come from the three Northern Regions and the Zongo Communities. We of the Liberal Democrat are strongly behind our brothers and sisters in all the political parties, provided their actions and inactions will be in the best interest of Mother Ghana.?

Educating the people of the constitutional provisions of freedom and speech, Alhaji Abdullah, indicated that they would not sit down idle to allow anybody to denigrate any other ethnic group.

?Ama Benyiwa-Doe has bitten more than she can chew and we humbly advise that all radio stations be careful of Ama Benyiwa-Doe and her likes, since her contributions can inflame passions and possibly, conflict. We have therefore resolved to face her squarely, by using all legal means,? he said.