“My quarrel with President Mahama is not
because he is a northerner. I don’t care where anybody comes from. My quarrel
with him is that he is a poor leader of a country that has great opportunity and
potential. We have a poor leader in John Dramani Mahama, and that is why I am
agitating for change”.These were the words of the 2016 presidential
candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday,
November 21, 2016, whilst addressing the NPP’s Upper East Regional rally at
Bolgatanga.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, all of his adult life has been
spent fighting for the progress of the Ghanaian people, without recourse to
ethnicity, colour or tribe.
“I fought Acheampong’s Union Government.
Acheampong was an Ashanti, but it didn’t make any difference to me. I thought
the Union Government was a bad idea and I opposed it. I opposed PNDC under the
Rawlings, who is Ewe, because I thought military government is not good for
Ghana. I am tribal blind, I am colour blind. It is Ghana which is my interest. I
don’t mind where anybody comes from,” he added.
On the choice of Alhaji
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate, Akufo-Addo stressed that, “he (Dr.
Bawumia) is not my running mate not just because he’s from the North. He is my
running mate because he’s one of the most brilliant economists that our country
has got, and he’s going to help me put the economy of our country on the path of
progress and prosperity, and ensure the wellbeing of our people.”
Nana
Akufo-Addo was, therefore, surprised that with the wind of change blowing all
over our country, President Mahama, instead of defending his record in office
and telling the people what he will do for them, is rather resorting to the use
of tribal and divisive language.
“Instead of being a figure to bring all
of us together, he wants to set North against South, he wants to set tribe
against tribe. That should not be the task of a Ghanaian leader. A Ghanaian
leader should try and bring all the people of Ghana together as one, whether
they are Mamprusis, Dagombas, Gonjas, Frafras, Kusasis, Grushis, Walas,
Dagartis, Ashantis, Akuapems, Akyems, Kwahus, Fantes, Ahantas, Nzemas, Ewes or
Gas. We are all one people, and our leaders should ensure that the coherence
amongst us is maintained,” he added
The NPP flagbearer, thus, urged all
Ghanaians to “turn our backs on tribal language, and turn our backs on the
politics of reaction and the politics of yesterday. Let us look forward, look
forward to that bright future, which is our lot as Ghanaians, and fulfil our
destiny as the Black Star of Africa.”
An Akufo-Addo government, he
assured Ghanaians will help “create a civilization that is going to be the light
of Africa, and the wonder of the world. That is the future ahead of us, and not
a future of tribalism.”
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