Over the weekend, while campaigning in the Upper West Region, the
President of Ghana and leader of the ruling National Democratic Congress
(NDC), His Excellency John Dramani Mahama opted to use
very ethnocentric and divisive campaign language.
The President,
while addressing party supporters in Lawra as part of his campaign tour
of the Region, made comments to suggest that the New Patroitic Party
(NPP) only “uses northerners” to win power and “dump” them afterwards.
The
President alleged that if vice-presidential candidate of the NPP Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia decides to contest as presidential candidate in the
NPP, he is likely to be rejected by the party.
He then went on to
cite the NPP presidential race in 2008 in which 16 other candidates
contested the then vice-president of the erstwhile President Kuffour
administration, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, for the Presidential candidacy of
the party.
President Mahama also allged that unlike the NPP, the
NDC gives everyone the chance to ascend to the high office including
northerners and it is that opportunity in the NDC that has made it
possible for him to become president after the demise of the late
President, John Evans Atta Mills.
The MFWA considers the comments
of President Mahama highly divisive and unfortunate and condemns
same in no uncertain terms. As a leader of the country, President Mahama
is expected to act in ways that will unite rather than divide the
people of this country.
The MFWA therefore calls on the President
to publicly apologise for his comments. We take this opportunity to
urge other political figures to avoid the use of hate speech,
ethnocentric and divisive comments in their political campaigns.
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