Nii Lante Vanderpuye
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodioo in the Greater Accra Region has described organizers of last Wednesday’s demonstration against former President John Dramani Mahama over what they called his ‘tribal bigotry’ as “Useless Akyem Boys.”
With the NDC MP, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, describing organizers of the demonstration against the ‘Akyem Sakawa’ tag as a bunch of useless persons and the NDC National Youth Organizer, George Opare Addo, vowing to resign should the former President apologize for what the Akyems say is ‘offensive reference’, there is no end in sight for the mess.
Massive Demo
The three divisions of Akyem, namely Abuakwa, Bosome and Kotoku in the Eastern Region, on Wednesday staged a massive demonstration at Asamankese in the West Akim municipality against former President Mahama and his NDC for alleged disparaging remarks he made about the ethnic grouping.
As a result, The Concerned Citizens of Akyem Abuakwa, Bosome and Kotoku said they had given the former President who is the flagbearer of the NDC to apologize unconditionally to the three Akyem states within 72 hours or they will cause all Akyems to prevent Mr. Mahama and the NDC from campaigning in any of the three Akyem states.
Mahama Tag
Mr. Mahama, who is staging a comeback, sparked an uproar recently when he described the people of Akyem, the ethnic group of sitting President Akufo-Addo, as ‘Sakawa Boys’ – a term largely used to refer to people who engage in internet fraud, dubious or criminal activities.
Mr. Mahama had shared on his Facebook an unprovoked blistering attack on the persons of President Akufo-Addo and his Vice Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by Isaac Adongo, NDC MP for Bolgatanga Central, on the Agyapa Royalties debate.
Isaac Adongo had called those working on the Agyapa deal as ‘Akyem Mafia’ and Mr. Mahama amplified the NDC MP’s vitriolic comment on his Facebook page by adding ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys.’
NDC Explodes
While speaking on a radio programme, the NDC MP who was aggressive in his remarks said the demonstrators were being used even as he fell short of mentioning those pushing such an agenda.
“Why are they (Concerned Citizens of Akyem) taking the ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys’ comment out of context?” Mr. Vanderpuye asked on Class 91.3 FM in Accra after the demonstration.
“They should read the whole thing and talk about it. This useless incitement doesn’t help anyone in this country. It’s so useless. The boys who did this thing are useless boys who are being used. We’re getting tired of this nonsense in this country and some of us are ready to face them,” he pointed out.
Misplaced Agenda
“I think their call is totally misplaced and uncalled for,” he noted, wondering, “So, should I also go and organize the Ga youth and say that Nana Akufo-Addo and his people should never campaign anywhere in Greater Accra because recently the Akyem decided to virtually take away some Ga lands? So is that the kind of politics we want to do? When politicians will go and hide behind faceless people and then get them to agitate and ask people to apologize?”
“What did John Mahama say wrong?” he asked. “John Mahama reposted something that somebody else had said and you are calling on him to apologize? Why didn’t Osafo-Maafo apologize to the rest of the country where he thought that there was nothing like any national resource coming from there and, so, they don’t deserve to inherit any position in this country? (sic)” the MP said.
More Important
“We must stop these things,” he said, adding “some people think they are more important than others; that somebody makes a comment about water, the next thing is that he should come and kneel down and apologize; somebody made a comment about ‘galamsey’ and they say he must come and apologize.”
“Look, I have been to the Eastern Region, somewhere in the Akyem area, where the School for the Deaf field has been occupied by galamseyers. So, people should stop this, otherwise we are going to break down this country,” he pointed out.
Nii Lante further said, “The unity of this country is threatened,” adding, “In fact, we’ve never been so threatened in our history than today that people could incite their people against the rest of the country or against other tribal groups. It is unfair. This is not the country Kwame Nkrumah built; this is not the country Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills and John Mahama bequeathed to Nana Akufo-Addo.”
“It’s so unfortunate,” Nii Lante said, adding “so, if today, we, the Gas, get up and say the Akyems should remove the so-called Akyem Traditional Office from Adabraka and carry it to Kyebi, will it be good?”
No Apology
“John Mahama is not going to apologize today; he’s not going to apologize tomorrow,” he vowed, adding “other than that, all of us will demand every politician, every leader in this country to apologize for one statement or the other from today.”
No-Go Area
“Very soon, some people will also bar some people from campaigning in another region. Yes. So, if Volta Youth get up and say because of what the government did during the registration exercise, no NPP person should campaign in that region, will it be fair? So, will Akufo-Addo go and campaign at Bole or in any part of Gonjaland? Will he go? Why do you want to virtually break down this country because of people’s selfish aggrandizement, capricious political intents?” he fired.
Strong Warning
He warned the NPP members that “if this is the politics they want to play, some of us know how to play and play it well because that’s the game they want to play, so, we shall fill their bucket, let it run over and give it back to them because they should know that they have a party that wins in only two regions, so, if we decide to make the rest of the regions impossible for them to campaign in, will they be happy? They should stop this and let us have a very issue-based campaign and let Ghanaians decide (sic).”
Resignation Threat
The NDC Youth Organizer also commented on the issue and threatened to resign from the party should Mr. Mahama apologize for his ‘Akyem Sakawa’ reference.
“If that happens I will leave the NDC, because there is nothing to apologize for. The article was in the context of those who are involved in the deal, so there is nothing to apologize for,” he said on Starr FM in Accra.
The NDC Campaign Spokesperson, James Agyenim Boateng, also said the former President should not apologize for the ethnocentric remarks.
By A.R. Gomda