Press Statement By Ndc Upper West Region Youth ON INSULTS RAINED ON NORTHERNERS BY THE NPP MP FOR FANTEAKWA, HON. KWABENA AMANKWA ASIAMAH.
The purpose of this press statement is to register our displeasure about disparaging comments made by Hon. Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah, MP for Fanteakwa Constituency in the Eastern Region directed at the northern people of Ghana. The MP is said to have insulted northerners on Peace FM’s morning programme ‘Kokrokoo’ while speaking to the issue of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
We have gathered that Mr. Asiamah said that northerners lack a culture of property owning which makes them very lazy; that they always have to be spoon fed and all they do is to cut down trees and burn them into charcoal. That whenever you see a vehicle carrying charcoal it is from the north. That northerners are always involved in tribal and community wars so the place is not stable; that northerners are always on the move and that vandalism has also become a culture in the north. As such he thinks SADA cannot survive in the north.
If this how Mr. Asiamah chooses to define a northerner we think it is unfortunate. It is a clear indication that the mentality towards the northerners by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has not as yet change. NPP members treat northerners with contempt even on political platforms. On political platforms you see some of their members insulting northerners in general and when their attention is drawn that they have some in their midst they turn to them and tell them that they are not part of those being insulted. This has been happening since 1992.
We wish to draw Hon. Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah’s attention to the contributions of his colleague MPs from the north whether in NDC, NPP, PNC, CPP etc whether he makes better contributions than they do on the floor of parliament house. He should also check at the civil service, educational institutions and the forces and find out the value added by the northerners and see whether they can be described as lazy people. If he has any cocoa farm around his village he should go and find out who the workers there are. He should check at the mines and other state institutions too. If he finds out that the northerners contributions in the foregoing areas are invaluable, then he cannot generalise that northerners are lazy.
We want to tell NPP members that the leadership of NDC always tells us that Ghanaians are one people with a common destiny irrespective of our political background, tribe or religion and we want them to follow suit. There is the need for unity and peaceful coexistence and we can achieve this only when there is mutual respect. We urge Ghanaians in general and northerners in particular to reject any individual or political party whose actions can divide us as a people. We have learnt lesson from the war torn countries such as neighbouring Cote d’ Voire, Liberia and so on and we don’t want to experience what is happening in those countries here in Ghana.
As for the apology rendered by the minority in parliament we treat it with the pinch of salt since it is their habit to always look down on Ghanaians and only treat us as important when they need our votes. It is about time all of us told them in their face that enough is enough. Thank you all. God bless you and long live mother Ghana.
Mohammed Sani
(Secretary)
0243487513
