Collins Owusu Amankwa, MP for Manhyia North
THE MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, says the use of hate speech, incitation of violence and tribal campaign tactics adopted by the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), ex-President John Dramani Mahama, will come crashing on his face.
According to him, Ghanaians have become more discerning and are able to pick which political groupings is capable of solving problems of the country and said the public would always go for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to deliver for them.
He told DAILY GUIDE in Parliament House yesterday that Mr. Mahama and his NDC have no message for the 2020 campaign and the only means available to them is to deliberately spread hatred to court public sympathy ahead of the December elections.
He described the NDC tactics as crude, saying it would backfire because there is no place for tribalism in contemporary Ghanaian politics and the only way a political party can be accepted is its good performance.
“The NDC, from time immemorial, has played the dangerous ethnic card against the NPP. It has succeeded in doing this for many years but this time around, the public will reject this dangerous move,” Mr. Amankwah pointed out.
“They always deliberately try to pit one ethnic group against the other just for votes. They perpetrate this evil on the country anytime an election is drawing closer. This time around, the NPP is coming out forcefully to let the public know what the NDC has been doing over the years and how dangerous it is for the country,” he added.
Mr. Amankwah, who is also the Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee in Parliament, accused ex-President Mahama of leading the tribal agenda to promote his parochial political interests.
“For Christ sake, Mr. Mahama is not just a leader of a major political party but also a former President of Ghana. He is expected to behave like a statesman. He cannot be sending this country down the path of tribal politics that has the potential to threaten national cohesion,” he said.
“Let him and the NDC base their competition for power on development issues instead of bigotry. We have less than four months into a general election and they have not come up with a manifesto that outlines their principles and goals in a manner that goes beyond popular rhetoric,” he pointed out.
“We members of the NPP and our leader, President Akufo-Addo, are competing for power in this year’s election on the basis of ideas.
“We have been talking about policies and programmes such as One District One Factory, Free SHS, Planting for Food and Jobs and many other things. The NDC and its leader, on the other hand, have reverted to whipping up tribal sentiments as foundations for their political competition. This will not help them,” he added.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House