Last Wednesday, there was a CODEO (NDC) demonstration ostensibly to condemn a NPP top dog Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo who was once an MP for Akim Oda and Minister of Finance/Minister of Sports for his alleged ethnocentric comments made over a month ago when addressing some Eastern Regional NPP elders in Koforidua. Before then, commentators from Radios 'Rwanda' Gold, Muntie, Breeze.and known NDC media outlets like; Informer, All Hajj, Herald and others used the issue as a fodder and thereby lambasted Osafo Maafo and even called for his crucifixion. These NDC media and their wicked attack dogs have always been in the habit of catching straws any day in a desperate attempt to label NPP as ethnocentrics. The NDC lunacy as usual, used the Osafo Maafo comments to link NPP and Akufo Ado, the NPP Presidential candidate to ethnocenticism to bring NPP into disrepute with a view to make them unpopular in the eyes of the people. This is usual of NDC whose electoral fortunes have always been based on ethnocentrism; deliberately playing the other tribes against Ashantis. NDC have lost grounds with their abysmal performance in governance and they saw it appropriate to divert attention from their reckless and gutterish governance, sustaining the ethnocentric argument which they think will go against NPP and rather shore up their (NDC) tumbling fortunes in the runup to 2016.
My simple answer to NDC is that they are being petty and hypocrites. We are tired of NDC, picking on mundane issues and creating non-existing mountains out of molehills to confuse the electorate. Osafo Maafo did not make public comments. He discussed issues in private with his people. Are we going to use people's private comments to do politics in Ghana? Then it is going to be pinsoo In Ghana.
From my own observations, having travelled extensively in Ghana, admittedly, Ashantis make bad comments in private, in community meetings, in the homes, in the bedrooms, in family meetings- about Ewes, Northerners, Brongs etc every day, every hour and every minute. They abuse them. They despise them. The comments are not meant for public consumption. Similarly, Ewes always make every day, every hour, every minute bad comments about Ashantis, Gas, and Northerners privately, in their bedrooms, in their community meetings etc. Ewes abuse Ashantis. They despise them and do likewise to other tribes. The comments are also not meant for public consumption. The Northerners do same contemptuous but private attacks on the other tribes. The Gas do same. The Fantes do it. All tribes feel they are somebody and treat with contempt other tribes. We are humans and that is part of the human failings.
Are we going to secretly tape all these private comments from all tribes for public consumption and make cases out of them? This is an exercise in futility. It will not get us anywhere. If we do that then Ghana would burn. I rather condemn the damnable act of secretly taping of Osafo Maafo private comments during NPP caucus meeting for political purposes. Who knows what happens at NDC private caucus meetings? Are NDC clean of these private ethnocentric private comments? I dare NDC loudmouths to come out. The pettiness and hypocrisy of NDC must stop. Their responses to Osafo Marfo private comments are twisted and unwarranted.
NDC are traditionally petty and hypocrites, picking on mundane and unnecessary tribal issues, playing tribal victims to court political sympathies to get attention and create confusion for political benefits.
NDC wicked and dishonest propagandists use to say NPP MP Ursulu Owusu once said that if it were not for education, President John Mahama would have been perhaps a shepherd looking after cows. I will take it that Madam Ursula Owusu said that.
Haven't we heard several times Ashanti scholars being told even at executive meetings by people from other tribes that if it were not for education they would have been in the forest farming, the HABANMU PEOPLE? The Fantes still call Ashantis HABANMUFU and there is no fight. People are saying these funny things about others day in day out and hour in hour out. Didn't MP John Mahama say openly in parliament that Ashantis can't say 'r' and 'l'? Did Ashantis rise up against Mahama? On the contrary, the Ashanti MPs in the house and Ashantis in general even joked with Mahama comments and moved on. Now turn the tables and make a joke about a Northerner or Ewe and the heavens are brought down. And this is what is driving the NDC political wheels all along. I condemn NDC dishonest honchos who cite Ursula words to justify that NPP are tribalistic. In fact they are fraudulent and dangerous.
All in all, NDC must learn to be tolerant of these everyday harmless remarks and stop disturbing our years with their tribal nonsense which takes us nowhere. NDC attempt to boost their rotten electoral fortunes doing tribalism, tribalism, tribalism is shameful and will fail. And they should be reminded again that Ghana would burn with ethnocentric comments if NPP and NDC private caucus and strategic meetings are to be secret-taped and published. We know what they say, the evil ones. NDC are fighting dangerous apparitions. They should stop it. Secret tapes, my foot. (NB Check the number of Northerners and Ewes in the military, police, Immigration, Civil service, Board members of parastatals etc and tell me who is practising tribalism/nepotism; NDC or NPP? NDC you are the guilty ones.)
John Yawose
